The “After Deadline” feature at the Times often preaches against using “since” to mean “because.” It may be technically correct, but the word’s double meaning is enough to throw the casual reader, if only for a moment. The sentence “Since Mary went on vacation, Sarah fed the cat” generally suggests that Sarah is pet-sitting for a Hawaii-bound friend, but if the word “since” is interpreted as an indication of time, the reader can be left wondering how long Mary has been on the beach. The reader expects a different conclusion, something to the effect of “Since Mary went on vacation, she’d drank six mai tais.” A second glance clears up any confusion, but a writer shouldn’t force her audience to read a sentence twice.
Similar fuzzy meanings trip up readers all the time. This line, from an advertising column by Stuart Elliot, is a prime “After Deadline” target:
The idea behind multiple, simultaneous campaigns is to break through the proverbial clutter by attracting attention as well as avoiding the risk of wear-out — that is, boring or annoying potential customers who may get tired of seeing and hearing the same pitches again and again.
Just how boring or annoying are those potential customers, anyway? Even Geico isn’t betting that insulting customers will increase market share.
. . . So Well Read. . . 