THAT BEING SAID

My brother mentioned that his doctor was talking to him and she said, "That said." and then continued with the subject.

I asked, "Did she contradict what she had just said?" He said that she had not. I said that the phrase is meant to be used as a transition from something one has just said to something different, which contradicts the first statement.

I said, "To be grammatically correct, she should have said, "That having been said." "That being said" is an adverbial participle phrase; the verbal portion of the phrase "being said" does not contain a finite verb and ONLY finite verbs are tensed!

Oh, why do I quibble?

I asked, "What's wrong with saying HOWEVER?"

Since then I have also noticed the prevalence of that phrase in the conversations of other people. I think it is a HOOK to be able to continue on with a statement.

My own HOOK, which I have tried to quit using is "ANYWAY". I encourage people to point it out when I use it to help me to overcome using it. THAT HAVING BEEN WRITTEN, at least it isn't as bad as saying: "You know what I mean?" or "You know."!