May 01, 2009, 20:42
Kallehtwixt
I heard the word
twixt used tonight. I thought that word was archaic. Is it still occasionally used? Is it used in England?
May 02, 2009, 02:39
BobHale"betwixt" is very occasionally heard, but almost exclusively in the tautological expression "betwixt and between".
May 02, 2009, 03:49
zmježdBoth
twixt and its variant
'twixt show up a bit over at Google Books (
link). Another set phrase it shows up in is the proverb:
There's many a slip, twixt the cup and the lip. It sounds no more archaic to me than
albeit or
whom.
May 02, 2009, 21:49
Kallehquote:
It sounds no more archaic to me than albeit or whom
Really? Wow. I use
whom and
albeit all the time, but I can't say I've ever used
twixt.
The OED says it's an aphetic form of
atwixt (which I've not heard of) and
betwixt. They also cite an 1878 medical quote, which I found interesting: "These primitive cerebral vesicles give rise to new segments... The first is known as the Fore-brain or Prosencephalon; the next as the Twixt-brain or Thalamencephalon." I've not heard it used that way.
May 03, 2009, 11:42
<Asa Lovejoy>I use it every time I've finished eating a Twix candy bar. When I'm finished I'm twixt.
More twattle from Asa
Proofreader, are you just gonna sit there and ignore this thread?
