Between Versus In Between
May 7, 2007 – 10:47 amIt’s time for another grammar rant. I like to think this is a pet peeve of mine, but I catch myself doing it every now and then as well. I still get pissed at myself for doing it, though, so I suppose I can count it as a pet peeve. What am I talking about? Using the phrase “in between” instead of just the word “between”.
For example: “I’m in between jobs right now”. Or: “I’m between jobs right now”. Was the “in” necessary there? I did a brief web search and found this Google Answers thread where the result was inconclusive.
Here’s the best example I can immediately come up with where the “in” might sound natural: “The pillow is in between the bed and the night stand.” But even there, it sounds just fine without the “in”. I can’t come up with an example where the “in” sounds natural and just “between” sounds unnatural. Can you?
As best I can tell, there isn’t a hard and fast grammatical rule in place here, but the “in” is seemingly superfluous. For whatever reason, the inefficiency really bothers me, even though there must be tens of examples where I use inefficient phrasing on a daily basis.
One Response to “Between Versus In Between”
To me, language is less about efficiently conveying thought than it is accurately conveying thought. There are many parts of language that are now superfluous, but we still use them anyway. I remember reading a grammar column in the newspaper once that covered occurrences of “that that” in writing. The conclusion: you can often get by with only one “that” in cases where two could be used, but what harm is there in using both, as long as the meaning is clear.
“between” and “in between” don’t bother me. However, I really dislike being corrected about “further” and “farther” in general speech. As long as you understand what I’m saying, what does it matter if my definition is a little bit off. In the vernacular, the meanings are interchangeable, based on the context. When I’m writing a paper, I’ll worry about which one to use.
The same goes for “regardless” vs. “irregardless”. I know that technically one means “without regard” while the other means “without without regard”. However, “irregardless” has gained sufficient acceptance in general speech that making a big deal of it just makes people look like an ass.
Anyway. I realize that everyone has there own little pet peeves about grammar. However, language is merely a method of communicating ideas, so if the idea is communicated easily (not necessarily efficiently) without loss of meaning, then what does it really matter? Grammar and vocabulary are agreed-upon conventions, but these things change over time and vary by region. Trying to force a meaning or convention that people don’t want to accept is an uphill and ultimately fruitless battle.
By Adam on May 8, 2007 at 6:24 am