Go against the grain
No ifs or ands either
There are a few words that should be struck from our language. One is the word but. It’s really a butt. Rarely does anything great follow it in a sentence. Sure, there are rare occasions when it is used to propose some alternate choice. Those are meant to pretend there is a choice. But most times, it steals something from the words that preceded it. That’s when it is a butt, if you catch my drift. Contrasting the impossible occurs frequently. It could lead to information about surprise or anger. Parents frequently use it to argue or object. Parents already have most of the necessary strong- arm tactics available. If you really want to challenge yourself, try and remove but from your vocab for a couple of days. So much fun.
The strangest thing about the word but is how it limits your language. Looking for ways to create a secondary consideration in a language stretches the mind. Removing any word that limits humans gets a vote from me. And when you add in the chances that the word but showed up and ruined the possibilities that existed in the first part of the sentence, it’s a downer. Listen up for those buts. If you take a quick minute to create an alternate way to say the same thing, it will eventually lose its power.
Nevertheless never works
Option #1: How often do you use this contrasting word?
Option #2: Does the word but argue any point?
Option #3: Can you make up your own word to join two thoughts?
That’s it. After you choose the option that best describes where you stand on using the word but, take a few minutes to describe why you chose that option and what action, if any, may come next.
