Using the Word 'But'
Discover how a single three-letter word can erase praise, escalate tension, or sharpen an argument. Learn to spot the conversational traps of 'but' and start using it with deliberate purpose.
Like Duolingo, but for Using the Word 'But'. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Rethinking 'But' in Conversation and Wielding 'But' on the Page and Podium. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Using the Word 'But'
- 'But' acts as an eraser word that signals the first half of a sentence doesn't count
- Listeners naturally focus on whatever follows 'but' and discard what came before
- Even strong positive statements are neutralized when 'but' connects them to a negative
- Praise placed right before 'but' gets recognized as a fake cushion or conversational trick
- People learn to brace for criticism the moment they hear praise paired with 'but'
- The listener discounts the compliment as insincere rather than feeling encouraged
- The clause placed after 'but' receives the final emphasis in the listener's memory
- Putting the obstacle before 'but' allows 'but' to erase the negative rather than the positive
- Ending on the solution after 'but' leaves an actionable, forward-looking takeaway
- Replacing 'but' with a period and a breath allows both statements to stand on their own merits
- A period prevents the second thought from actively wiping out the validation of the first
- Combining two valid points into separate sentences removes the tug-of-war created by 'but'
- 'But' has powerful utility when an explicit contradiction or hard stop is necessary
- Using 'but' to reject an unsafe or unacceptable proposal restores its honest function
- Overusing 'but' in collaborative or empathetic moments blunts its impact when an actual negation is required
- 'But' signals that the second half of a sentence negates or corrects the first half
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Using the Word 'But' the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
A friend tells you: 'The dinner was delicious, but the dessert was burnt.' What part will your brain focus on most?
Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.
Where Using the Word 'But' takes you
- 1
Rethinking 'But' in Conversation
- Defusing the Conversational Eraser
- Replacing 'But' with 'And'
- 2
Wielding 'But' on the Page and Podium
- Engineering Contrast and Narrative Tension
2 sections · 3 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Using the Word 'But' is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Using the Word 'But' today.
Download Tomo, search Using the Word 'But', and play your first lesson in under a minute.