Versus

“Phonics” vs. “Phonetics”

Nouns, Versus

I wondered the other day about these two words.

Problem:
One of these nouns formerly was a synonym for the other noun but now is not.

Explanation:
The noun “phonics”, which dates back to around the year 1680, refers to a way to teach spelling and reading based on the phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling.

Put briefly, the primary meaning of the noun “phonetics”, which dates back to around the year 1840, is the study of speech sounds.

An obsolete meaning of the noun “phonics” is the noun “phonetics”.

Given that “phonics” is an older noun than “phonetics”, it seems that it was temporarily fashionable to use “phonics” as a synonym for “phonetics”, a much newer noun.

Note that one does not “teach phonics” unless one is teaching others how to use phonics for teaching spelling and reading.

For example, children in elementary school would not be “taught phonics”.

Instead, their teacher would “use phonics” to teach those children to read and spell, and that teacher would have been “taught phonics” by his or her college professor.

Solution:
Think “a way to teach” when thinking of the noun “phonics”; think “sounds” when thinking of the noun “phonetics”.

“Disassociate” vs. “Dissociate”

Verbs, Versus

I had to look up these two verbs the other day during a conference call.

Problem:
I was not sure which verb represented proper English.

Explanation:
The conference call entailed a review of verbiage to go into a Web-based application.

The review centered on how to communicate to a customer that two identities with the same company could be disconnected from one another.

One part of the document used the verb “disassociate”; another part of the document used the verb “dissociate”.

I had to look up these two verbs because I was unsure whether both were correct. Both verbs are correct and mean to remove from association.

The difference, according to at least one dictionary, is the age of the two verbs.

  • The verb “disassociate” originated in the period of 1595 to 1605.
  • The verb “dissociate” originated in the period of 1605 to 1615.

Solution:
Both verbs represent proper English. Use the one that you prefer, but be consistent within any given document that you are writing.

“Because” vs. “Since”

Conjunctions, Devolution toward Simpler, Versus

I read one of these words today where it seemed to me that the other was more appropriate.

Problem:
Most dictionaries treat these two words as synonymous conjunctions, but one is preferable over the other for expressing cause and effect.

Explanation:
Many, if not all, dictionaries indicate that the second or third definition of the word “since” when used as a conjunction is “because”.

An unambiguous example of using “since” as a synonym for “because” is “I kissed her since I love her.”

However, it is easy to construct an ambiguous sentence with the conjunction “since”.

For example, “I decided to learn French since my company moved me to Paris.” has two possible meanings:

  1. A causal meaning — “I decided to learn French because my company moved me to Paris.”;
  2. A temporal meaning — “I decided to learn French after my company moved me to Paris.”

The temporal version clearly tells us when the writer decided to learn French. The causal version tells us why the writer decided to learn French.

A commenter at another website noted that Bryan Garner wrote in his book Garner’s Modern American Usage that the causal meaning of “since” has existed for more than one thousand years.

I believe that the use of “since” as a substitute for the conjunction “because” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It is simpler to say or write the one-syllable, five-letter “since” than it is to say or write the two-syllable, seven-letter “because”, and clarity can be easily sacrificed for simplicity.

Solution:
To avoid confusion, prefer the conjunction “because” over the conjunction “since” when joining two sentences in a causal relationship. And prefer the conjunction “after” over the conjunction “since” when joining two sentences in a temporal relationship, unless “since” clearly carries a temporal connotation.