What an interesting little word this is.  I would think that we all use it every day but seldom pause to consider its potential impact.  It is a little modifying conjunction that tells the person that the first part of the sentence does not contain the full message.  “She is a nice girl but…”  or “He is a good worker but…”We all know that what comes next can having a damning impact. Think of how differently we might complete these sentences if the last word were ‘and’.

Clearly like all words ‘but’ has its place and purpose.  However, sometimes we could, and perhaps should, reconstruct our sentences to remove this little verbal land-mine.

Interestingly, there is an old English meaning of this word with French roots that means target (as in archery butts), sometimes this meaning feels a lot closer to the truth…

“Know your limits, but never accept them.

The top of the hill is but the bottom of another mountain.