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I sometimes see the phrase "that being said" and I wish to know a little more about it. Especially, when and how can we use this phrase?

Is there a difference if we shorten it to "that said"? In what cases are we allowed to do it?

Is it possible to say the following:

  • With that being said, I left the room.
  • While that being said, I was driving.
  • In that being said, I jumped off the roof.
  • As that being said made me fall to my knees and cry.
  • That being said, she locked the door and turned off the light.
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    Most of your examples are either non-idiomatic or simply ungrammatical, and they provide insufficient context to evaluate properly. That being said, I don't think you've grasped what this "set phrase" actually means, which is the main reason your examples look strange. In nearly all cases, it should be possible to directly replace That being said... with Despite (or Ignoring) what I just said..., but I can't see that working with any of your examples. You can always discard being, but doing this makes it a bit more "formal, starchy" than it already is.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:51
  • @FumbleFingers How can "that being said" mean "despite"?
    – SovereignSun
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 13:00
  • Read this discussion - noting in particular, "That being said" implies that you are about to contradict or modify what has just been said (usually, but not necessarily, said by you).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 13:03
  • @FumbleFingers What's the purpose of doing it? If I say something, I mean it... That's odd. I imaging a person speaking for 30 minutes and then making a contradiction.
    – SovereignSun
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 13:14
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    It would be better if you restrict the question to the two likely possibilities, "that being said" and "that said", which is enough to describe the problem. Adding other examples with different wording only confuses the matter, especially if they are not referenced to actual usage. If there are better examples, they will come up in answers.
    – user3169
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 23:28

3 Answers 3

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That being said, that said, having said that all act as segues to a statement which reverses the spin, so to speak, on what has just been said.

We should treat all students with tolerance and understanding. That being said, a student who engages in threatening or violent behavior should be expelled from the school. We cannot tolerate such aggression.

In the sentence above, "That being said" could be replaced with "That said" or "Having said that" without change of meaning.

P.S. The preposition with would be OK with "that being said" and "that said" but not really with "having said that". You cannot use while because while goes with something ongoing, whereas this construction, with past participle said, refers to an act completed.

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    Note that it can also literally mean "after saying that." So, "That being said, she left the room," is grammatical, and simply recounts a sequence of events.
    – fectin
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 18:54
  • Yes, agreed, it can be used in that way too, though we could also paraphrase it "upon hearing those words" if the person who leaves the room in your example was not the speaker.
    – TimR
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 19:01
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The use of "that being said" indicates an upcoming caveat, an exception to what has been said, and may be accompanied by an intonation that indicates the speaker intends to make a strong remark, an emphatic remark.

For example,

1908 Manitoba Morning Free Press (Electronic text) 1 Aug., The story of Sir James Douglas might have been told in smaller compass… That being said, James Douglas certainly deserved a place among the makers of Canada. (source: Language Log at U Penn)

At least that's how it used to be used. I have heard people use it recently simply to mean "in conclusion", or, in a Toastmasters club meeting, "With that being said, I'll return the floor to the Toastmaster." I find this use tiresome - it's language bloat! "That being said" has a purpose, and it is not to say "I just said something."

Read the considerable discussion on "that said" here: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1807

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That being said means in spite of what was just said.

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