The usage of "But of course"

[braininvat]

I have heard the phrase "But of course" used in a number of occasions.
One example is as follows:

A: See that your droids complete their mission.
B: But of course, Count. They will not fail.

A: Both shall be annihilated under my hand.
B: Our hand, General. Count Dooku assigned us both this task.
A: But of course, assassin. I look forward to meeting you.

Since in my native language "but" doesn't make sense here, I wonder if
anyone can tell me about the usage of "but of course" here. What does
it mean and why it is used. Thank you!

[Duggy]

"Of course" can be a little disrespectful.
"But of course" shows a little more respect.

I don't know why.

===
= DUG.
===

[Steve Hayes]

On Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:33:32 -0800 (PST), braininvat <brain...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Sometimes rendered "Absolutely", which in turn is used to translate Russian
"Da kanyeshna".

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[Peter Moylan]

It's possibly a borrowing from the French "Mais oui" (="but yes").

The little words in a language don't always translate well into another
language, and certainly can't be interpreted by trying to follow logical
rules.

Many years ago, when I tried (without much success) to learn a bit of
classical Greek, I kept running into sentences that started with "kai
de". IIRC, that means "and but", which again doesn't make much sense.
Presumably it did make sense to the people who wrote it.

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[Donna Richoux]

As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
fiction dialog often does.

I see the point of the "but" as being that Speaker B has corrected
Speaker A ("my"/"our", referring to the responsibility of the
assignment). The "but" politely acknowledges the negativity of the
correction, the tiny degree of surprise and change of wording.

If Speaker A had only said "Of course," that would have suggested "I
already knew that," and even possibly "You are stupider than I am."
Nowhere near as polite.

--
Best -- Donna

[J. J. Lodder]

Donna Richoux <tr...@euronet.nl> wrote:

> braininvat <brain...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have heard the phrase "But of course" used in a number of occasions.
> > One example is as follows:
> >
> > A: See that your droids complete their mission.
> > B: But of course, Count. They will not fail.
> >
> > A: Both shall be annihilated under my hand.
> > B: Our hand, General. Count Dooku assigned us both this task.
> > A: But of course, assassin. I look forward to meeting you.
> >
> > Since in my native language "but" doesn't make sense here, I wonder if
> > anyone can tell me about the usage of "but of course" here. What does
> > it mean and why it is used. Thank you!
>
> As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
> fiction dialog often does.

Maar natuurlijk, it's fairly natural sounding in Dunglish,
(with a slightly different meaning, beware)

Jan

[aruzinsky]

It's an affectation to impress stupid people. Excessively verbose
speech fits stupid people's stereotypical image of how smart people
talk. I bet this is also true in your native language.

[Mark Brader]

We are asked about:

>> A: See that your droids complete their mission.
>> B: But of course, Count. They will not fail.

Donna Richoux writes:
> As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
> fiction dialog often does.

To me it only sounds obsequious and a bit formal. Perhaps that sort of
thing is foreign to Donna. :-)
--
Mark Brader "'... Fifty science-fiction magazines don't give
Toronto you half the naked women that a good issue of
m...@vex.net the Sunday Times does.'" --SPACE, James Michener

[Garrett Wollman]

In article <-86dnb3sFosJVFLT...@vex.net>,

Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
>We are asked about:
>>> A: See that your droids complete their mission.
>>> B: But of course, Count. They will not fail.
>
>Donna Richoux writes:
>> As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
>> fiction dialog often does.
>
>To me it only sounds obsequious and a bit formal. Perhaps that sort of
>thing is foreign to Donna. :-)

Pardon me. Would you have any Grey Pupon?

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wol...@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993

[Donna Richoux]

Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:

> We are asked about:
> >> A: See that your droids complete their mission.
> >> B: But of course, Count. They will not fail.
>
> Donna Richoux writes:
> > As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
> > fiction dialog often does.
>
> To me it only sounds obsequious and a bit formal. Perhaps that sort of
> thing is foreign to Donna. :-)

It didn't even register with me that we were given *two* examples of
"But of course." I was talking about the second, "But of course,
assassin."

By "it sounds slightly foreign and stilted," I did not mean any
conceivable use of the phrase. The combination of words "but of course"
is in Dickens (Oliver Twist). It's in Twain (Huckleberry Finn).

It's when it stands on its own, I think, that it sounds -- I don't know
what to call it. Forced. Jocular. "But of course, mon ami."

--
Best -- Donna Richoux

[Mark Brader]

Donna Richoux:

>>> As others have said, it sounds slightly foreign and stilted, as science
>>> fiction dialog often does.

Mark Brader:

>> To me it only sounds obsequious and a bit formal. Perhaps that sort of
>> thing is foreign to Donna. :-)

Donna Richoux:

> It didn't even register with me that we were given *two* examples of
> "But of course." I was talking about the second, "But of course,
> assassin."

Ah. That was in this passage:

A: Both shall be annihilated under my hand.
B: Our hand, General. Count Dooku assigned us both this task.
A: But of course, assassin. I look forward to meeting you.

A's lines do sound a bit foreign or stilted -- the first sentence is
very formal, and "assassin" is not usually used as a term of direct
address. But I don't think this affects the tone of the "but of course"
itself.

> By "it sounds slightly foreign and stilted," I did not mean any
> conceivable use of the phrase. The combination of words "but of course"
> is in Dickens (Oliver Twist). It's in Twain (Huckleberry Finn).
>
> It's when it stands on its own, I think, that it sounds -- I don't know
> what to call it. Forced. Jocular. "But of course, mon ami."

I stay with "obsequious and a bit formal".
--
Mark Brader | The only trouble was, no despot had the resources to plan
m...@vex.net | every detail in his society's behavior. Not even planet-
Toronto | wrecker bombs had as dire a reputation for eliminating
| civilizations. --Vernor Vinge, "A Deepness in the Sky"

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[Mike Lyle]

I don't think it's _necessarily_ obsequious: over here at least, it
can be simply emphatic, and I rather suspect it may be one of those
things which is used far more often than we think.

1."You don't happen to have five minutes to spare, do you?" -- "But of
course! Come in and sit down."
2. "Was he in the war?" -- "But of course! Captured at Arnhem, too."

--
Mike.

[Mark Brader]

Donna Richoux:

>>> It's when it stands on its own, I think, that it sounds -- I don't know
>>> what to call it. Forced. Jocular. "But of course, mon ami."

Mark Brader:

>> I stay with "obsequious and a bit formal".

Mike Lyle:

> I don't think it's _necessarily_ obsequious:

Well, I was talking more about the original examples. In cases like
these:

> 1."You don't happen to have five minutes to spare, do you?" -- "But of
> course! Come in and sit down."
> 2. "Was he in the war?" -- "But of course! Captured at Arnhem, too."

I can agree with Donna's "jocular", but I figure the reason it's jocular
is that it's mock-obsequious.
--
Mark Brader | I passed a sign that said "you are here",
Toronto | but I didn't entirely believe it.
m...@vex.net | --Michael Levine

[Peter Duncanson (BrE)]

On Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:39:38 -0600, m...@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote:

>Donna Richoux:
>>>> It's when it stands on its own, I think, that it sounds -- I don't know
>>>> what to call it. Forced. Jocular. "But of course, mon ami."
>
>Mark Brader:
>>> I stay with "obsequious and a bit formal".
>
>Mike Lyle:
>> I don't think it's _necessarily_ obsequious:
>
>Well, I was talking more about the original examples. In cases like
>these:
>
>> 1."You don't happen to have five minutes to spare, do you?" -- "But of
>> course! Come in and sit down."
>> 2. "Was he in the war?" -- "But of course! Captured at Arnhem, too."
>
>I can agree with Donna's "jocular", but I figure the reason it's jocular
>is that it's mock-obsequious.

I'm inclined to agree with Mike.

His examples do not strike me as being either obsequious or jocular (in
BrE). The style might be a little effusive and perhaps typical of only
some individuals.


--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Snidely]

m...@vex.net (Mark Brader) scribbled something like ...

In this passage, I'd go with "condescending and a bit formal".

/dps