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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

Old fashioned?

Are words like notwithstanding, herinto, herein and albeit old fashioned?

Sometimes I encounter these words in books, and I don't like it much. In my ear these words sound stiff, but I'm not sure if my judgement about these words is correct.
In the beginning, when I started to read more books, I didn't even know that albeit was made of 3 words, all be it. At that time I was under the impression that the word was pronounced as all-bite.... Emotion: stick out tongue Now I know better.
  

Top answer

Sometimes I encounter these words in books, and I don't like it much. In my ear these words sound stiff, Yes, 'stiff' is a good description. Those words (especially 'notwithstanding') are still very much a part of the language, but you will seldom meet them outside of legal or very formal contexts.

— Mister Micawber

  • Sometimes I encounter these words in books, and I don't like it much.
  • In my ear these words sound stiff, Yes, 'stiff' is a good description.
  • Those words (especially 'notwithstanding') are still very much a part of the language, but you will seldom meet them outside of legal or very formal contexts.
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6 Answers
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AnonymousAre words like notwithstanding, herinto, herein and albeit old fashioned?Sometimes I encounter these words in books, and I don't like it much. In my ear these words sound stiff,
Yes, 'stiff' is a good description. Those words (especially 'notwithstanding') are still very much a part of the language, but you will seldom meet them outside of legal or v
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AnonymousIn the beginning, when I started to read more books, I didn't even know that albeit was made of 3 words, all be it. At that time I was under the impression that the word was pronounced as all-bite
My son pronounced it as /'ælbi:it/. He had read it in fairly formal texts but never heard it.
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Anonymousalbeit
Of those you listed, only this one comes to mind as one that I've heard occasionally in conversation. The playwright Albee uses it in his plays from time to time, and I sometimes think it's just his way of putting his personal stamp on it (because of the similarity of its pronunciation with the pronunciation of his name).

CJ
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fivejedjonMy son pronounced it ...
/'?r?/ also comes up a lot for "awry" among the uninitiated.

CJ
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AnonymousAre words like notwithstanding, herinto, herein and albeit old fashioned?
I sometimes use "albeit" and "notwithstanding" -- mostly in writing, but I'm pretty sure I use "albeit" occasionally in conversation too. "herein" is used in formal documents, e.g. legal documents, regulations, etc. There was an example here just the other day (
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I saw it said somewhere that "albeit" was once virtually obsolete but has been revived. I can't now find the original reference I was thinking of, but there is another mention of something similar in Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English, which says "This quaint and archaic word has been undergoing a surprising revival" (
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