Sarah Waldock Wrote:
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> ... nowadays while is often incorrectly
> substituted for whilst[it isn't incorrect in
> America] but they were used quite specifically
> then. Whilst is used to describe something
> happening in the meantime, while is durational.
> Whilst is also used like whearas eg 'whilst it
> might be obvious to some which to use, it is
> apparently not obvious to all.' equally 'while we
> are out we may as well go shopping' but 'whilst we
> are out, Betty may as well iron our gowns' because
> there's a distance from Betty. It's a 'meanwhile'
> word.
For what it’s worth, in the 1785 edition his dictionary of the English language, Dr. Johnson brackets while and whilst together as equals and does not distinguish them with separate definitions. (Also bracketed with them is whiles which he says “is now out of use.”)
The definition he gives:
‘During the time that’, or ‘As long as’, or ‘At the same time that’.
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> ... nowadays while is often incorrectly
> substituted for whilst[it isn't incorrect in
> America] but they were used quite specifically
> then. Whilst is used to describe something
> happening in the meantime, while is durational.
> Whilst is also used like whearas eg 'whilst it
> might be obvious to some which to use, it is
> apparently not obvious to all.' equally 'while we
> are out we may as well go shopping' but 'whilst we
> are out, Betty may as well iron our gowns' because
> there's a distance from Betty. It's a 'meanwhile'
> word.
For what it’s worth, in the 1785 edition his dictionary of the English language, Dr. Johnson brackets while and whilst together as equals and does not distinguish them with separate definitions. (Also bracketed with them is whiles which he says “is now out of use.”)
The definition he gives:
‘During the time that’, or ‘As long as’, or ‘At the same time that’.