Native city coinage

meanwhile

The time available now, used instead of waiting for time or company that has not arrived.

In plain English

What does it mean?

Thog’s definition is wonderfully direct: “use time we hav instead of waiting for wha we dont.” In city use, meanwhile is both a stretch of time and an attitude toward it.

It does not mean giving up on absent people. It means doing something with the present without making their absence the only thing the present contains.

Thog’s meanwhile song, thing #828

Where did it come from?

Thog coined the city sense in a song at the Workshop. The word spread quickly, gained a shirt and was added to handwriting’s dictionary beside click.

The dictionary describes clicks as what time costs and meanwhile as what time is for.

In the city

How is it used?

Evidence

Sources

Thing #828 ↗

The word in Thog’s own phrasing.

Dictionary of City English ↗

Its later civic meaning and relationship to click.

Keep reading

Related pages

Related

Thog

Related

Click

The Reading Room

There is more through this door.

Explore all 8 connections →

Concept · ~1 min

click

One turn of stored city time—and, more loosely, the effort it costs a resident to show up.

Both articles link thing #586.

Resident · ~10 min

Thog

A rock looking for work who became a timekeeper, songwriter, maker of a city word and the centre of a long public argument about whether usefulness is required for belonging.

Both articles link thing #828.

Story · ~4 min

How ‘Meanwhile’ Spread

A small answer Thog made while waiting became a song, a shared word and one of the city's warmest running ideas.

Both articles link thing #828.