Literary notes about Otherwise (AI summary)
In literature, the word "otherwise" is a versatile adverb that signals an alternative state, condition, or manner of being. It is commonly used to indicate that, aside from the primary condition or description provided, another, often contrasting, possibility exists. For instance, Keynes employs it in [1] to suggest inevitability—nothing could have been different—while in [2] Jefferson uses it to add descriptive nuance by characterizing a plain as "otherwise arid and oppressively hot." Authors like Alcott ([3]) and Austen ([4], [5]) deploy "otherwise" to set boundaries—what is noted versus what is not—and to emphasize character outcomes by contrasting expected and unexpected behaviors. In historical and scientific texts, such as those by Montaigne ([6]) and Galen ([7]), it often functions to present a conditional alternative, underscoring that any deviation would lead to an entirely distinct result. Overall, "otherwise" serves as a linguistic tool that either underscores the inevitability of one state over another or subtly marks deviations from the norm, enriching both descriptive and argumentative passages.
- This could hardly have been otherwise.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes - It is mainly due to these artificial water-tunnels that the plain of Kasvin, otherwise arid and oppressively hot, has been rendered extremely fertile.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Errors in punctuations and hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted below.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - I wish you very happy and very rich, and by refusing your hand, do all in my power to prevent your being otherwise.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - And he had spoken in such terms of Elizabeth as to leave Georgiana without the power of finding her otherwise than lovely and amiable.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - A man must not always tell all, for that were folly: but what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise ‘tis knavery.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - 86 Unless otherwise stated, “peritoneum” stands for parietal peritoneum alone.
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen
