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I usually use that said or that being said etc.

Today, for the first time in my life probably I read an email with This said.

Is This said correct? If so then why we don't commonly use it instead of that? In fact Wiktionary and macmillandictionary and many others have the phrase this said and not that said

After all, texts are written a text like so:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

That said, Lorem ipsum dolor etc..

The two paragraphs are in the same dialogue, one paragraph apart. So if this said is an option, then perhaps we should use it more commonly than that said since the events in the dialogue aren't far apart.

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  • Possible duplicate of This or That person. Also This or that is/are?, and doubtless several more.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 15:37
  • @FumbleFingers no not a dupe of the first question because I said that "that said" is not indicating distance, otherwise we'd always use "this said" as for the second question, it has nothing to do with my question. No other dupe on the site or anywhere. "that" in that said, is not indicating an event that happened far away in time. Have you ever used this said?
    – Lynob
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 15:51
  • @FumbleFingers if you ever in your entire life used this said instead of that said, on purpose I'll close my question. Otherwise we all know that everyone uses that said regardless of any consideration
    – Lynob
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 15:53
  • Things like that said or having said this involve metaphoric distance. One big reason for favouring that over this is simply that if the speaker is about to come out with some contrasting statement, he's likely to want to "distance" what he's about to say from whatever he's acknowledging as having been said before. It's all part of the same general principle, where metaphoric elements may or may not be involved, but that/this doesn't change how the words work.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 15:57
  • I can assure you that I and most other native speakers will often say things like this said and despite having said this.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 15:58

1 Answer 1

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It is typical to use that said of statements one wants to distance oneself from, such as to recommend a course of action other than the one that might seem to flow naturally from the previous utterance.

The carpenter bees have been chewing big holes in the fascia board. That said, we shouldn't use pesticide as it might kill the honeybees.

On the other hand, this said tends to be used to refer to the previous utterance as basis for ensuing action.

"The President wants your letters of resignation on his desk by end of business today," said the chief of staff, and this said, the cabinet members stood up and filed out of the room.

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  • I imagine a high proportion of the matches in this NGram for the sequence that/this said we will be for OP's context. So it's true that in practice usage is heavily skewed to that - the error is in assuming that the alternative is never used and/or is somehow inherently "incorrect".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:05
  • I'm not too keen on your last example though. Since the implied "subject" of this said is the President, it would seem more natural for him to also be the subject of the next clause (... having said this = this said, he walked out). Dunno if this (that? :) represents any kind of recognised grammatical principle, but I think your version is a little bit like a dangling participle (ambiguity as regards the implied agent/subject).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:09
  • @FumbleFingers: The chief of staff makes the remark, and "and this said" there is semantically equivalent to whereupon. I think it would be called a participle clause, but who knows. I think of it as an absolute construction.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:17
  • Actually, I've just noticed I should have said the implied subject was the chief of staff, not the president. Interestingly, I find the "ambiguous subject" less of an issue if the text is "passivised" into ...this being said [by subject A], they [subject B] did something. Maybe because we kinda expect subject ambiguity around a passive form.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 16:33

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