The “s” factor

October 9th, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

Let’s try to preserve the difference between “beside” and “besides.” The former is most commonly used to mean “alongside” or “near” (”they stood beside him all through the crisis”) or “not pertinent to” (”that’s beside the point”).

It’s also part of a perfect example of how idiom is not meant to be taken literally: “After he said that, she was beside herself,” meaning she was “wild or upset, as with fear, rage, etc.” Clearly, to actually be beside oneself is impossible, unless we’re talking about an out-of-body experience or perhaps time travel.

“Besides,” with the additional “s,” has the sense of something in addition or in contrast to: “Besides the legal questions, think of the expense.”

Neither should be confused with “B side,” which is the “flip side” of a phonograph record (remember those?). Usually, the A side had the hit song and the B side was rarely if ever played. “Flip side” and B side” can be used informally in a general sense in referring to “the reverse or opposite, often sharply contrasting, side, aspect, effect, etc. of something or someone.”

Sometimes the flip side is something you don’t find out about until it’s too late.

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