But and because

If you're like me, you'll remember school taught us to never start a sentence with:
 

• But
• And
• Because
  
  

Ironically, these words are often great sentence starters. So, we settle for synonyms that, for unknown reasons, are accepted:

But =
 

• Yet
• However
• Nevertheless
  
  

And =
 

• Moreover
• Additionally
• Furthermore
  
  

Because =
 

• Since
• Due to
• As a result
  
  

But why extend beyond the simple, familiar, everyday word?

The words we use regularly in speech should be good enough for our writing too. They aren't offensive, their meaning is clear, and they don't look ugly.

The reason they're shunned is because the writer's ego mistakes familiar for childlike.

Somehow “but”, “and”, and “because” aren't intelligent enough. They aren't formal, proper, or professional enough. But that's the training of the adolescent student infatuated with the self important substitution for the simple word.

Leave those replacement relics in school, and boldly use the neat, raw versions.