Re: Proper usage of "however"

"Shannon Jacobs" <Shannon.Jacobs.nospam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:d9a90a43-47ac-488f-9cd1-3567339d536b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'll throw out what I regard as 'considered' usage guidelines . . .

1. Some sources recommend or tolerate a semicolon before "however",
but I find this usage weak and will usually avoid semicolons . . .

This maxim looks odd: it implies SJ has authority (or prefers)
to alter punctuation when editing a text, but not wording.

2. When "however" is used in a sentence as a substitute for "but" in
the middle of a sentence, the sentence will almost always seem better
with the simple "but".
.. . .
3. If a sentence begins with "But", I'll almost always try to merge it
with the previous sentence or switch it to an initial "However".

.. . . while #2 and #3 suggests the editor may alter wording.
Readers may be confused at this point.

4. Embedding "however" (offset with commas) in the middle of a
sentence almost always interrupts the flow of the sentence and makes
it harder to determine the meaning.

For at least some writers, "however" inserts a mental pause in the
flow of text that (1) signals an immediate change of thought from
what preceded, and (2) allows time to absorb this change. The
aim is to clarify the meaning of the whole sentence (viz. the
shift in emphasis or the collocation of superficially opposite ideas.)
SJ may be quite right that in some instances "however" "makes
it harder to determine the meaning:" this is obviously the opposite
of what the writer intended. The unknown incidence of failure
may be an inadequate basis for a general rule to discourage the word.

5. (The question:) There is often a clear difference between sentences
that begin with "However" with or without a comma, but in some cases
it's hard for me to tell which is correct or plausible. Perhaps a
substitution
test that will clearly pass or fail in hardware?

Similarly, this seeks to base a positiive rule on the history
of negative cases: (we know failures of meaning have happened,
so we expect them to recur). This is fundamentally implausible.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)


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