Talk:Whilst

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[edit] Multiple Choice

The difference between "while" and "whilst" is:

  • A. "While" is for English since 1650, "whilst" is before 1650.
  • B. "While" is American, "whilst" is Canadian
  • C. None of the above

66.32.118.139 23:31, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Usage

As far as I can tell, "whilst" is used by people who want to sound smarter than they really are.

It also seems to be quite common in usage on Wikipedia, but not elsewhere.

The following website has a little bit of information on the difference in the words: While versus whilst Peyna 17:37:47, 2005-08-15 (UTC)

I use whilst fairly commonly, and have never considered it affected, though I'm aware that it would be likely to be considered so in the USA. (I'm British.) I don't usually make a conscious decision about whether to use while or whilst, but rather use whichever one is in the sentence in my head! Loganberry (Talk) 23:48, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
As an American, whilst (like amongst and amidst) makes me cringe. I'm not sure whether it's (A) Archaic, (B) Cultural, or (C) None of the above. I see it as archaic at best, and at worst, just an inattentive bad habit (sorry, Loganberry). People who are taught to write, are pressed to avoid that which is unnecessary. Less is more. Adding "-st" to "while" achieves nothing, except to offer clues about the author.--213.46.139.101 11:41, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

"whilst" gets 85 million Google hits and "while" gets 1300 million Google hits. I agree with Peyna that "whilst" tends to show up lately in writing where people think it sounds a bit more erudite, when in fact it is simply archaic (even though "while" has the earlier origin). Hu 04:50, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I feel this Google test is somewhat invalid. "while" is an incredibly common keyword in almost all modern programming languages, and there are tons of references/tutorials for these online. Additionally, "while" is used a lot more in media, like song and movie titles, which, it could be argued, maybe be due to the word "while" being simpler and shorter to pronounce, thus catchier in such titles. A Google test will rarely work well for such common words as conjunctions. Whilst I agree that "whilst" is pretty much deprecated and archaic, this Google test is pretty weak evidence. 24.125.232.123 00:31, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "whilst" deprecated by leading style guides

Also deprecated is "amongst". Use "among".

Hu 05:32, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Shouldn't that be "New Scienti" ? jnestorius(talk) 20:36, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
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