The While vs. Whilst Chestnut.

I was in Adelaide earlier this week. While I was making my way to the city I saw a sign that read ‘Airport Parking – Park Whilst You Are Away!”. I couldn't help but feel a little offended and I couldn't put my finger on it at first. I've been deliberating ever since and I think that it all comes down to the fact that I've never decided which side of the fence I sit on during the ‘while’ vs. ‘whilst’ argument.

I often draw my own conclusions while (whilst) I'm writing, I thought I’d fight it out on page.

Ultimately, the use of either word is decided by which option suits the style of your writing. In my writing I have used both. Professionally, I tend to use ‘whilst’ frequently, particularly in corporate or more formal writing, even though people nowadays think it’s old-fashioned.

According to dailywritingtips.com “While was in use in Old English; whilst is a Middle English development of while. As conjunctions they are interchangeable in meaning, but whilst has not survived in standard American English.”

Wikipedia says that ‘whilst is synonymous with while in standard English’ and that most style guides (both English and American) disapprove of the use of ‘whilst’.

 But according to www.onlinegrammar.com.au there is a belief among some grammar experts that there is a subtle difference: 
While should be used in relation to time. Here is a little example: While I was making my way to the city I saw a sign that read ‘Airport Parking – Park Whilst You Are Away!”.

Whereas whilst should be used when the meaning is ‘although’. 
For example: Whilst I use the word frequently, I couldn't help but feel a little offended.

I think that the most important thing is to choose one version to suit to style of your document and stick with it for consistency and clarity. If you are unsure if ‘whilst’ fits the context of your document (if you are intending to to mean 'although'), then simply use 'although'. For example: Although I use the word frequently, I couldn't help but feel a little offended.

 Most of the major newspapers and news websites use this approach however, you may see the odd slip in an opinion column. For this blog, I’d be more inclined to stay away from ‘whilst’. This is a casual, conversational publication and I try to keep it as close to the way I’d speak as possible. I don’t believe I’ve ever verbalised the word ‘whilst’ in a sentence (I think…).

In closing, I still don’t feel that I've come to rest on either side of the fence for this argument. I don’t think I’d ever discount ‘whilst’ from my written vocabulary, however I think there is a time and a place and that ‘Park Whilst You Are Away!’ is not the time, nor the place. What do you think?

I’m drowning in a metaphorical sea of exclamation points.

I fear the full stop is slowly being phased out by the aggressive and grammatically ambiguous use of exclamation points. At the risk of being perceived as over-dramatic, I dream of a world in which every full stop achieves the right to continued existence, protection, improvement and participation in prose.

This means ensuring that full stops do not die out from preventable use of exclamation points, that they have the opportunity to feature throughout text and that they have - and understand - their rights as a full stop.

But what will we do with all of the exclamation points?

I am not suggesting the abolishment of exclamation points entirely.  They can be useful for turning a sentence into a strong command or when capturing an emotional outburst in text that is literary dialog or personal expressive writing, such as an email. For example:
- Shock: "I can’t believe you used the exclamation point in your resume!"
- Excitement: "Oh my God! I didn’t see one exclamation point in the entire report!"
- Urgency: "Be careful when using exclamation points! Consider using a full stop! If you don't, you could hurt the feelings of others!”
- Vehemence: "Down with the exclamation point!"
- Astonishment: "I just can't believe what she's done! It's simply incorrect!"

If you are going to use an exclamation point, it is very important that you use them in a grammatically sound manner. Here are a few tips:

• Do not use a full stop after an exclamation point occurring in the end of a sentence, even if followed by quotation marks.
• If you are using an exclamation point with other visual aids, such as capital letters, boldface or italic type (again, this should be done sparingly) ensure it receives the same formatting.
• When an exclamation point follows a quoted text, put it before the closing quotation mark if it applies just to the quoted text. Put the exclamation point outside the closing quotation mark if it applies to the entire sentence.
  -If only I could finally say "I've never seen an exclamation point used inappropriately" like I’ve always dreamed! [entire sentence is exclamatory]
  -"I didn’t see one exclamation point!" cried Kristine to her mother excitedly on the phone.[only quoted text is in exclamatory, no extra comma after an exclamation mark]

To drive this point home, do use it in stories and personal communication, but use it sparingly. Avoid where possible.

How do I avoid using an exclamation point?

It is highly inappropriate to put an exclamation point in formal pieces of writing such as a business resume, report, proposal or a scholarly article, as the style expected in these should be objective, standard, and informative.

Using an exclamation point in these formats creates an impression of unwarranted exaggeration, which in turn is perceived as clumsy, marketing oriented or immature. You can try using alternative wording or other punctuation marks to express emotion. Make your readers infer emotions by giving them context. For example;

Avoid: Her blog was amazing!!! Super-duper!!! She really knows how to write!
[Exaggerated enthusiasm using too many exclamation points]

Consider: Her blog emphasised the overuse of exclamations with style and prowess. It appears that she is highly professional.
[Subtle enthusiasm using alternative wording with full stops instead of exclamation points]

Of course, there are other contexts in which you can use exclamation points such as indicating rhetorical questions, and for drawing attention to unlikely points of information.  My advice would be to avoid them entirely.   Use your words.