That said?

CX asks:

Please explain “That said” in the following passage (What the Apple v. Samsung Verdict Means for the Rest of Us, Wired.com, August 24, 2017):

“Big leaps forward are rare; most innovation occurs in increments,” Indiana University law professor and author of Illuminating Innovation: From Patent Racing to Patent War Lea Shaver told Wired via email. “Allowing companies to take a good product and make it better and cheaper is good for consumers. But the patent lawyers won today.”

That said, many of the UI features that were found to violate Apple patents have since been adjusted in more recent updates of Samsung’s user interface, and in Android. That’s part of why the jurors were asked not to update the devices used in evidence. Android users don’t need to worry about, say, their phones suddenly failing to work properly or powering up with a completely redesigned UI update.

My comments:

A great question, CX, giving a lengthy example which provides us ample context.

First, explanation. “That said” is colloquial and kind of short for “THAT being SAID”, or “with THAT being SAID” or “after THAT is SAID” – THAT referring to whatever it is that has just been stated. In other words, “that said” means “now THAT I have SAID what I have just said”, let’s move on.

See? By “that said”, you get to introduce something else, especially to make another point on the same subject.

In your example, after the patent war between Apple and Samsung (won by the former) is dissected and analyzed, the author wants to say something else – on the effect of their squabble on customers. Particularly, the author, having said all of THAT which were SAID, wants to reassure Samsung users that they can hang on to their phones for now and even in future – their Galaxy phone, for instance, will not suddenly stop working properly.

By the by, yesterday on Wikipedia, I saw this sentence: “Christmas is exploited by capitalism. That said, it is still a religious festival.”

Let me paraphrase that sentence to give you a better feel of the term. Let’s see how we can say the same thing in different ways without altering its meaning.

1. Christmas is exploited by capitalism. Having said that, I want to point out that you can still enjoy it as a religious holiday.

2. Even though Christmas is exploited by capitalism, it’s still a religious festival. After all, Santa is still coming to town, isn’t he? And you still can fill socks with gifts for your kids on Christmas Eve. They can still go to sleep in excitement and anticipation for the next morn.

3. Christmas is exploited by capitalism. However, it is still a religious festival. It’s still the biggest festival of the year, for Christians and many others.

4. Christmas is exploited by capitalism. With that said, I want to point out that Christmas is still a religious festival. It is still an important holiday. You still get a few days off, don’t you? In short, it’s still something to enjoy. So, do enjoy it, however you can. Don’t let capitalism, or rather consumerism, ruin it.

Alright, you get the point.

Now, having said all this, I want to thank you again for raising a good question. For the foreign ear, fixed English phrases and idioms are the most difficult to master. Hence, they warrant a greater amount of attention from you.

That said, don’t overlook individual words either.

That is to say, got to learn all your A, B, Cs and remain fundamentally sound. Keep both feet firmly on the ground.

Even as you make “great leaps forward”, to quote the law professor in our example from the top.

Great leaps forward are rare, though. As it is with technical innovations, progress in learning English also occurs in increments.

Therefore, got to have patience and take it easy – make small improvements everyday and enjoy them.

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.