Hi,
I’ve come across this sentence:
You know, I kind of doubt that seeing as though you lied to us once already.
I wonder what “seeing as though” means? Is it equal to “seeing as”?
Also do native speakers use it often? I looked it up and I drew a blank.
Thanks!
Hi,
I think you need a comma after ‘that’. I wouldn’t use ‘as though’ but simply ‘seeing’ or ‘seeing that’.
‘Seeing as’ would be acceptable.
Alan
I see,
Thanks Alan!
Amongst the first few Google hits for “seeing as though”, I see that someone has written a whole academic paper about this “hitherto unstudied causal conjunction in English”:
Thanks Dozy,
I hit on this paper too but since I checked the dictionaries I know of and came up empty I didn’t put much stock in the paper.
So, does this paper stand up to scrutiny?
Thanks again.
Oh, godness, I wouldn’t have a clue. It’s far too technical for me! But the more I look at this expression now, the less sense it seems to make…
I had a sneaking suspicion that there was a reason the expression ‘seeing as though’ had been “hitherto unstudied”. And that reason was… (drumroll)…
Nobody actually uses it.
The phrase seemed (and still seems) more like a typo or a slip of the tongue to me.
However, I decided to do a search of COCA and the BNC anyway. I got 3 hits in COCA (all in works of fiction) and none in the BNC. Then I did a search of the NY Times and got 8 hits. I was quite unprepared for that! So, it seems that at least a few people actually use ‘seeing as though’ (gasp!), but I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed anyone I know using it.
Here’s a sample from the NY Times, apparently written by a teenager who was posting an opinion about an article that had been published:
“Seeing as though I want to go to college that requires me to take the SAT’s and most likely the ACT’s which can be very stressful on a young student.”
I’m pretty sure it’s an established colloquial expression that some people do use, at least in my part of the world. I feel it’s possible that I may even have used it myself on occasion. Whether it was originally a mistake or misunderstanding that then “stuck”, I’m not sure. Certainly, as I say, it appears to make little literal sense.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=uhHu … +though%22 says it’s “probably of much more recent origin [than the 19th century]” and “arguably the product of formal blending”. Does anyone know what “formal blending” means?
I’m in agreement with Dozy that ‘seeing as though’ is used in the UK. I’ve heard it, though I don’t believe I’ve ever used it.
I wonder whether the similarity between ‘see’ and ‘seem’ had anything to do with the development of the phrase. I mean, ‘seem as though’ would be a common enough collocation…
Thank you guys!
The thing of it is that I heard it on Law & Order yesterday, said by detective Ed Green (maybe you know him).
So it comes as a surprise to me that Amy is not familiar with it. Hehe.
Yeah, especially since I watch Law and Order sometimes. Can’t recall having heard it there either. 
I do think if it was something I’d heard used often, I would remember having heard it.
Fair enough,
Thanks for your input!
‘Seeing as though’ is a phrase I’ve quite often heard and indeed used in the UK. However, in the instances mentioned, I would normally just use ‘as’.
Old thread, but just Googled “seeing as though” because an arrogant correspondent just wrote me an email containing “seen as though”, and it didn’t sit well with me.
I use “seeing as though” frequently, UK born and bred, though haven’t tested the phrase outside of my immediate family, (that I can recall).
Hello Julie, welcome to our forum. It’s great to have another Brit on board. How are things with you over there across the channel?
Hi Julie,
I echo what Torsten has said and let me add my welcome to you as well. Are you in the EFL business? If you are, let’s hear more.
Best wishes,
Alan