with.
“With” is increasingly being used as a quasi-conjunction to introduce a tag-on idea at the end of a sentence. The sense is close to “and” {John went to Houston and Sarah went to Minneapolis, with me going to Chicago}. Avoid this sloppy construction — e.g.:
o “Labor also has an edge on unemployment and welfare and social issues, with the Coalition considered better able to handle the environment, interest rates and taxation.” Michael Gordon, “Voters Swing Back to ALP on Issues,” Weekend Australian, 20-21 Jan. 1996, at 1. (A possible revision: “Labor also has an edge on unemployment and welfare and social issues; the Coalition is considered better able to handle the environment, interest rates and taxation.”)
“We separated, with me carrying [read ‘and I carried’] a couple thoughts [read ‘a couple of thoughts’] back to the office.” Dana Parsons, “Life on the Outside of the American Dream,” L.A. Times, 14 Nov. 1997, at B1.
Language-Change Index — “with” as a quasi-conjunction: Stage 3.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
Quotation of the Day: “The Spanish abound and delight in words of many syllables and where the English expresseth himself in one syllable, he doth in 5 or 6, as thoughts ‘pensamientos,’ ‘fray levantamiento,’ &c., which is held a part of wisdom, for while they speak they take time to consider of the matter.” James Howell, New English Grammar 40 (1662).
