Small Words With Great Meanings!

 

Some little words have great implications. These are often outside the conscious awareness of the speaker or listener.

Small word: But (although, however)

Implied Meaning: But negates what has previously been said, (as do the other two words to a lesser extent). “That was an excellent presentation, but (however, although) you could make it even better by…” implies that it was not a great performance.

Comment: It is much more useful to use and instead of but, unless you do want to negate what has been said.

(For example, when the speaker mentions negatives! Such as “all the difficulties they have had met the deadline.” You can reply, “Yes, it was difficult, but you have learned so much from it.”)