If I may interject anent my own usage:
I tend to use toward to indicate a direction, as in
"He drove toward the city." Towards suggests a
process: "They worked towards a solution."
~ Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: "judy prince" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: Towards clarity whilst amidst and amongst us
> Jon,
>
> I see by your email address that you may be an American from the U.S. of
> A, and p'raps even from the Left Coast. Let me ask you if you shift from
> "toward" toward/s "towards" for different sounds or uses. Further, can
> you glean from the ODAUS which spellings/pronounciations are used in
> various regions throughout U.S.A.?
>
> Yours hounourably and coulourfully,
>
> Judy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jon Corelis"
> Subject: Towards clarity whilst amidst and amongst us
>
>
>> The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style says that amongst,
>> amidst,
>> and whilst are considered archaic and therefore pretentious in American
>> English but not in British English, and that toward is prevalent in
>> American
>> English, towards in British. (I think by American they mean USA, not
>> Canada.) This more or less accords with my own impression. The forms in
>> -st to me would sound definitely odd used by an American. Towards,
>> though,
>> seems perfectly ordinary American English, though less frequently used
>> than
>> towards.
>>
>
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