“Be that as it may” partially agrees with another’s statement while maintaining a definite opinion. “Whatever” disagrees entirely. It’s common among leaders and has roots in older English. “However” can have positive or negative connotations and is used to determine the truth.
The idiom “be that as it may” generally indicates partial agreement with another person’s statement or idea while maintaining a definite and unchanged opinion on the given matter at hand. This saying is often used as the opening sentence of a counter-argument in situations where both sides’ ideas or arguments have some degree of validity; the goal is generally to determine which idea is more valid or relevant than the other. The person stating “whatever” generally indicates that they disagree with the entirety of the opposing argument, regardless of the other person’s attempts at persuasion or debate.
The use of this type of English proverb is generally more common among leaders or managers who have final decision-making power regarding a certain set of circumstances or possible course of action. This idiom can be spoken as a verbal attempt to acknowledge another person’s point of view while indicating that her argument or suggestion will not be accepted as a whole. “However” can often be interpreted as being very close in meaning to the word “however” in these types of exchanges. The phrase is generally considered a more informal expression of such synonymous words.
This idiom has its roots in older versions of the English language; some linguistics scholars believe that the saying is a modern derivation of the phrase “be it as it may,” which first appeared in the written work of Geoffrey Chaucer. Since the saying begins with a form of the verb “to be” that differs from its more common uses as a connecting or auxiliary verb, the exact meaning can sometimes seem unclear to those studying idiomatic English sayings for the first time. When mentioned in instructional grammar texts, “be that as it may” is often designated as an informal spoken instance of the verb “to be”.
“However” can have various positive or negative connotations depending on the circumstances and the issue under discussion. The idiom is often spoken as a means of determining the agreed-upon truth relating to a situation, and as such can be intended to counter another statement without fully discrediting the person with the opposing viewpoint. The saying can generally imply that the other person’s claim may not be relevant at the time, although this fact does not detract from its general level of credibility.
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