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 ward the employment of one word which does the work of two; but here there are as many letters in behind as there are in back of; and besides, the two words back of often are preferable to the one behind.

Maetzner (English Grammar) calls because a “hybrid particle.” “He recognized one fact because of another.” “I knew it was night because it was dark.” The condemnation of this hybrid has not visibly impaired its usefulness. Because, like many another hybrid, has done yeoman service for a long time, and it is likely to continue despite abuses. If ever a sturdy hybrid won a place in respectable society, this one has, surely, because it is deserving and because it serves us well both in good prose and fine poetry. Tennyson says in Sir Galahad:

Brainy is reproached as “pure slang, and singularly disagreeable.” But the reason why