-to iu koto de

[Noel Hunt]

In a recent thread Bart Mathias made a very nice observation about the
similarities between the origins of the phrases `sore de' and `to iu
koto de' when used to begin a statement.

`-to iu koto de', on the other hand at the end of a clause, often seems
to be used in speech where the person seems to be speaking carefully,
or even perhaps hesitating, such as in a speech or interview. Is this
usage simply a `circumlocution' for `no de' or something like that?

[s_y...@my-deja.com]

In article <957154899.602305@sj-nntpcache-3>,

You could probably say that it is a circumlocution of a sort, but I can't
think of any simple paraphrase. It seems to me that the general meaning of
"... to iu koto de" is something like ,

"with the [understanding/agreement/hypothesis/excuse on the outside] that ...
".

Would "with the premise that ..." cover all these variations?

Some examples.

Jaa, 2 wari biki to iu koto de onegai-shimasu.
Jishin ha kanarazu okoru to iu koto de taisaku wo toraneba narimasen.
Kaze wo hiita to iu koto de kesseki shite irundesu.

There may be a lot more implications to this. I know I'm missing many others,
but my mind is not working too well. Better go to sleep now. Good night.

--
Sho

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