Obliquealso

Obliquealso is a neologism used to describe a discourse marker that introduces an additional, obliquely related point within a sentence. The term blends oblique, indicating indirect relevance, with also, signaling that the following information, while connected, is not the primary claim. In usage, obliquealso functions to hedge, qualify, or lightly expand on what has just been stated without making the expansion central to the argument.

Origin and usage have emerged primarily in online communities and social media during the 2010s, where speakers experiment with meta-discourse and tonal shading. It has appeared in linguistic discussions about how writers manage stance and relatedness between clauses, though it remains relatively uncommon in formal writing. When used, it is typically informal and playful, often signaling irony, understatement, or a softening of a claim.

Phonology, orthography, and placement vary. It is usually written as obliquealso and can be set off by commas or placed mid-sentence, depending on the writer’s preference. For example: The plan should work, obliquealso, if global markets cooperate. The budget will be tight, obliquealso, but projections remain optimistic. The marker can also appear in parenthetical form to minimize disruption to the main clause.

Functions and interpretation: obliquealso primarily marks an ancillary assertion, a caveat, or a tangential justification that the author wants to acknowledge without elevating it to the main point. The usage tends to be informal, playful, and somewhat niche, with mixed reception among scholars and editors who favor stricter formal style guides.

See also: also, discourse marker, metadiscourse, hedging.