Did you know that there’s a difference between acting “on behalf of” something and “in behalf of” something?
Didn’t think so. But you’re in good company if you don’t think there really is a difference.
For some people, “on behalf of” means you are acting as the agent or representative of something: “On behalf of the mayor, let me welcome you to the conference on rat control.” “In behalf of” means doing something for the benefit of someone or something: “Your attendance is in behalf of controlling rats.”
The Grammarphobia blog, from Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, mentions the difference, as does Garner’s Modern American Usage, which says that “the distinction is seldom followed,” but that “stalwart stylists continue to distinguish the two.”
Pish, posh, say others, kinda sorta. In a long entry,Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage concludes “there never was a distinction in the meaning based on the choice of preposition.” The M-W dictionary itself lists both “in” and “on” with the same definitions, with a usage note:
A body of opinion favors in with the “interest, benefit” sense of behalf and on with the “support, defense” sense. This distinction has been observed by some writers but overall has never had a sound basis in actual usage. In current British use, on behalf (of) has replaced in behalf (of); both are still used in American English, but the distinction is frequently not observed.
The American Heritage Dictionary leans slightly in favor of maintaining the distinction, even as it notes: “Statistically, on behalf of is used far more frequently than in behalf of, and in fact the Usage Panel prefers on behalf of for both meanings.”
Garner’s also notes that using “in behalf of” and “on behalf of” interchangeably is at Stage 4 of the five-stage Language-Change Index, making those “stalwart stylists” into “die-hard snoots.”
The older phrase is “in behalf of,” which The Oxford English Dictionary traces to about 1320, meaning “in the name of.” “On behalf of,” meaning “on the side of,” appeared about 200 years later.
The OED also notes that “behalf” is almost never used outside of one of those two expressions. Its origin, the OED says, is “the blending of the two earlier constructions on his halve and bihalve him, both meaning ‘by or on his side.'” The OED says the choice of preposition “is determined by considerations of euphony and perspicuity.” In plain English: how it sounds to the ear or how precise in meaning you want to be.
And yes, “behalf” is derived from “half,” which originally meant “side,” as in “right or left side,” or “your side or my side.” It wasn’t until later that it came to mean 50 percent of something.
In the end, you could say this column is “inbehalf of” precision in language, “on behalf” of the stalwart stylists among us.
Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at the New York Times, where she worked for twenty-five years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl.