“Because” vs. “As” When Talking About Consequences

Hello, you have a wait with words.

Hi, Martha. This is Scott Proctor from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hi, Scott.

Hi, Scott. Welcome to the show.

Well, I work as a technical writer for a software company. And I’ve been there for about four years.

And I’ve noticed a very strange usage for the word as. And when I use as, I use it as a comparison or a substitution, you know, like cotton is absorbent as wool or instead of while.

But this company and its 3,000 or so employees tend to use it in place of because.

So an example, because this is software, you must enter the customer’s name before you enter their code as it causes systems errors.

So when I read that, I think you add that as it’s doing the error, like while it’s doing the error.

So everyone seems to use it in place of because.

So I’ve never heard of that usage, and I appreciate you considering this.

Okay.

And you have a style guide?

Do you use one of the standard style guides?

It’s based on AP plus some Microsoft.

Do you have an internal style guide that modifies those for your own purposes?

Which I actually wrote.

You did. Okay, gotcha.

I was just wondering if there was a reason that you were finding this is pervasive throughout the company.

Maybe a style guide rule had gone into play.

No, definitely not.

So what’s your perception of that as do you find that people are just doing because they’re seeing it done elsewhere in the company?

Or do you get a sense that it’s a carryover from a previous generation and it’s just kind of persisted?

It’s interesting because of all companies I’ve worked for, this is a very diverse age range.

So I have a feeling that it started with the original training documentation, because my job was to convert PDF documentation to online articles.

So what I found was, I don’t know how many authors wrote that, but it seems to mimic that type of writing.

It seems somewhat formal.

All of these questions are helping us zero in on what I think is happening here.

And that is, it’s not so much a question of formality, which you suggested.

I think it’s a question of fashion.

And using as in this way to mean because has gone out of fashion.

It’s faded from use in North American English for much of the last 80 years.

Now, it does exist, and it might be still common in some registers of British English,

But it’s just not something that’s done very often anymore.

And so that’s why it might seem unusual to you, although it is an accepted grammatical use of as.

It’s fine.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

The reason I asked about style guides is because it’s something that you could write into the style guide and say, we don’t do this anymore.

Use because.

I already have, Grant.

Yeah.

Good for you.

So let’s explore this a little bit.

From day one.

If you look at some expert resources, I looked at Brian Garner in his latest edition of his Modern English Usage,

And he quotes and agrees with Henry Fowler, the famous grammarian and usage expert,

That as and because are not perfectly interchangeable.

So these two fellows say that as can be misread as meaning while, just like you said it, meaning during an ongoing action.

So, yeah, you’re seeing the symptoms here of people reaching for a higher register of language that is unnecessary because they want to.

They’re trying to find ways to elevate their language to make it seem important or significant, even if it’s not warranted by the content of it.

But, you know, as the guy who writes the style guide, also, you know, you have the opportunity to put it in bold and red ink and undermine it and star it and put it in a marquee.

Wow.

Oh, this has been a serious treat.

I list you every week, and I think about things to call in for.

So thanks.

Thanks so much.

Appreciate it.

Please do again sometime.

Take care of yourself.

I will.

Good luck getting the point across.

Good luck with the writing.

Thank you.

All right.

Take care now.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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