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  1. Thus it came about that the child was recognized later in Russia than in other parts of western Europe.

  2. Thus it came about that in Prussia secondary schools for girls were dealt with administratively as part of the elementary school system.

  3. Thus it came about that I found myself watching Jeremy Corbyn's speech on television back at home.

What do these above excerpts mean? Is "so it came about that" interchangeable here?

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    That expression is very old fashioned. And the sentences somewhat awkward. Thus it came about is like so it came about. But today, we'd say: It (so) happened that x.
    – Lambie
    Feb 28, 2022 at 17:03
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    Thus here is precisely equivalent to so, therefore (it refers back to earlier text whic presumably explains why something happened / "came about"). It's not exactly the same usage as it so happened that [something happened], where so doesn't refer back to anything. In fact, [optional] so in that context effectively means nothing at all - it's really just an established "frozen form" usage. But the way so is used today is often a bit loose. Look at how many questions here and on ELU start with the word So when it doesn't refer back to anything.
    – FumbleFingers
    Feb 28, 2022 at 18:01

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In this context, thus it came about that the child was recognized later in Russia than in other parts of western Europe means that: due to the actions happened before, the child was recognized later in Russia than in other parts of western Europe.

Let's take example 3 (thus it came about that I found myself watching Jeremy Corbyn's speech on television back at home) and imagine that before this, it said "a speech was the only thing on TV". This event (it being the only thing on TV) caused this person to watch Jeremy Corbyn's speech.

[1] thus it came [2]

[1] causes [2] to happen.

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  • Could you elaborate a bit?
    – Mostafizur Rahman
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:53
  • What was / were the sentence(s) that came before this: it will help me to gain a bit of context
    – taylor.2317
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:53
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    Thus means in this way in any context.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:54
  • @taylor.2317 Added more examples. Check it please.
    – Mostafizur Rahman
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:57
  • Let's take example 3 and imagine that before this, it said "a speech was the only thing on TV". This event (it being the only thing on TV) caused this person to watch Jeremy Corbyn's speech.
    – taylor.2317
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:59

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