Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ifs, ands, or buts

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.15 in modern English

Syllables: if-s, and-s, or buts
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

3

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Modifications, limitations, or addenda; qualifications of any kind; speculations about whether a particular idea or enterprise is good.

Example Sentences

"1867, The Frankfort Commonwealth, Frankfort, Kentucky. August 30, 1867, p. 3. Some of those elected on the Rebel Democratic ticket, at the opening of the war, in the interest of the traitors to the Government, professed to be "Union men, without any ifs, ands, or buts.""
"1947, Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Dramatists Play Service, Inc. (1952), →ISBN, page 29, BLANCHE. That must’ve been what happened. ¶ STANLEY. I don’t want no ifs, ands or buts! What’s all the rest of the papers?"
"1962, advertisement, in Popular Science, Popular Science Publishing Company, page 175, There are no gimmicks. There are No Exceptions, No Exclusions, No Limitations, waiting periods, no ifs, ands or buts."
"I think individuals do a better job than agencies because agencies have a lot of' ifs, ands or buts' because of insurance."
"A relationship with a grandmother doesn't contain the same ifs, ands, or buts of a mother-daughter pairing."
"2007, Walt Love, The Gospel According to Rev. Walt "Baby" Love: Inspirations and Meditations from the Gospel Radio Legend, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 32, There are no ifs, ands, or buts if we are going to stand on the promises found in the Holy Bible."

Etymology

Earlier as ifs and 'ans, plurals of if and 'an (or an, en, or and), dialectal for then, influenced by the conjunction an (meaning if) (See OED entry on and conj.2). Thus it meant ifs and thens. Brewer's analyzes it as ifs and ans, with the meaning ifs and ifs, and that the spelling ands is a mistake. In any case, it was later supplemented with buts.

Inflected Forms

ifs, ands or buts (alternative) if's, and's, or but's (alternative)

Phrases

ifs and ans ifs and buts

Frequently Paired Words

ifs and ans ifs and buts

Questions

What does ifs, ands, or buts mean?: Modifications, limitations, or addenda; qualifications of any kind; speculations about whether a particular idea or enterprise is good.
Where does ifs, ands, or buts come from?: Earlier as ifs and 'ans, plurals of if and 'an (or an, en, or and), dialectal for then, influenced by the conjunction an (meaning if) (See OED entry on and conj.2). Thus it meant ifs and thens. Brewer's analyzes it as ifs and ans, with the meaning ifs and ifs, and that the spelling ands is a mistake. In any case, it was later supplemented with buts.

How to pronounce ifs, ands, or buts

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