Ending a sentence with "because [noun]."
I've noticed an interesting usage where "because [noun]." is used at the end of a sentence to mean "because [...everything that word implies. Nothing more needs to be said]". It often has a wry or sarcastic tone that implies the subject considers the word to be a blanket explanation for something.
An example might be "She couldn't drag herself away from the computer because internet.", the implication being that the Internet is seductive. Another example is here where "because sex" is used to imply that a group of people have a simplistic attitude to how sex affects people's lives.
The odd grammar causes a clang in my head when I read it, but of course that is the point; the author is showing how this word will stop the conversation dead in its tracks, so it is quite effective.
Is this a new or emerging usage, or have I just started noticing it?
Solution 1:
Yes, it's novel. However, it has predecessors.
The form "because [noun]" allows the fuller statement giving the reasoning to be deduced, with the implication that there isn't really any reasoning - much as the sentence is jumping from because to an object, so too is the thinking of the speaker or those they are talking about. This is all the more so with the common form "because reasons" where there isn't any attempt to even state such an object.
While this form is novel, there are such poorly-reasoned arguments as "Because, that's why!", "Just because!" and the bare "because!". Such non-arguments can come naturally enough to children who are finding it difficult to express their reasoning or to excuse a behaviour that is frowned upon, and as such is considered childish.
From this "just because" has an informal meaning of doing something because one feels like doing so, though one doesn't have any well thought-out reason for doing so.
The same lack of reasoning that makes it work poorly in a debate or argument can be used deliberately to humourously concede that one doesn't really have a good argument. A good counter-joke is to react as if it was in fact a devastatingly good argument:
"Because, that's why!"
"Oh, you win this round."
The novel form "because [noun]" fits into this history if imprecise and often ungrammatical uses of because.
Solution 2:
In modern grammar, 'because' is a preposition.
As its complement, it can take :
- a clause :
She couldn't drag herself away from the computer because the Internet is seductive.
- a prepositional phrase with 'of' as its head :
She couldn't drag herself away from the computer because of the internet.
- a noun phrase :
She couldn't drag herself away from the computer because internet.