Furthermore, hence, on the other hand

[kev67]

What do you think of words like 'furthermore', 'nevertheless', 'moreover', 'notwithstanding' and the like? They seem a little archaic and legalese to me. On the other hand, they make a change from 'therefore' and 'however', particularly at the start of sentences. I often want to use a word like this if I am writing a dense paragraph of related ideas. What do you think of the phrase 'on the other hand'? It is almost like a word itself. Perhaps if the phrase had been around for longer it would now be spelt 'ontheotherhand'. I notice it is commonly abbreviated to 'OTOH' on internet forums. I often want to use 'on the other hand', but I suspect it is bad style. What about words like 'hence' and 'thus'? These words seem even more archaic than 'moreover' and 'notwithstanding'. They are sometimes used as filler words in sentences. I am not actually sure what the difference between 'hence' and 'thus' is.

[Lokasenna]

I don't think 'on the other hand' is in bad style, and I have seen it used plenty of times in formal academic writing. I tend to use most of the terms use list pretty frequently - they allow for great precision in writing.

[Emil Miller]

I don't think any of the words you have mentioned are archaic ; I use them regularly. If you don't want to use them, why not use 'conversely'?

[kev67]

'Conversely' is a good one.

I just looked up 'furthermore' on Word's thesaurus. It suggested 'also' and 'in addition'. I am aware of overusing 'also' and 'in addition' in my writing. I have started checking my work to delete irritating also's where I can. Maybe I could throw in the occasional 'furthermore' and 'moreover', provided I don't overdo it.

[Whosis]

Nevertheless is a useful one for me.

[AuntShecky]

I don't like "Having said that," because very often this participle "dangles:" that is, when it is (incorrectly) followed by anything other than "I. . ." The cop-out phrase, "That said" or "that being said" isn't much better as it sounds stilted, passive, and awkward.

When you want to add the contrary notion, you could say "Even so," or "however," or "nevertheless." You could make a complex sentence by including a clause beginning with "although," or a compound sentence using the plain old, ordinary conjunction "but" .

"On the other hand" is okay, but it should be used only for two contradictory ideas. It's no good for more than two, since nobody has three hands (on this biosphere anyway!)

[DocHeart]

They're just words we say, tools we use. They'll sound good in some contexts and bloody awful in others. Like my jokes.