Whereas

There’s a syntactical quirk I’ve been noticing lately, particularly in journals like Geophysical Research Letters where the length limit can produce some rather strained syntax, but in other places too:

Whereas Fact A, Vaguely Contrasting Statement B.

Whereas the crust does this thing, the lithospheric mantle does something else.
Whereas the well-functioning executive encourages the best in brains and skills, the one who is paranoid or even less morbidly insecure must have inadequates about him, men who will take punishment.

Although it appears to be technically correct, this idiom makes me want to crawl out of my eyeballs and stuff an unabridged dictionary in the molt skin. Medial whereas-ing is fine, but initial whereas belongs in a list of reasons for a pompous resolution, and only in a list of reasons for a pompous resolution. Any other use should be banned, and banned NOOOW!!

That is all.

Comments

  1. Sabine wrote:

    That really annoys me too.

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