9452
Can anyone explain the etymology of それはそうと【其れはそうと】and possibly the grammar of
how it fits into a sentence, which does not seem to follow the normal rules
(It should have a copula だ、そうだと？)? I think of it as equivalent to ところで. The
Apple dictionary defines it as

> 〔ついでながら〕by the way; incidentally; 〔さて〕well

and for reference, it also gives the example sentences:

> それはそうと昨日は中野さんに会いましたか｜ By the way, did you see Miss Nakano yesterday?
>
> それはそうとあの本はやはり山田さんのでした| Incidentally, that book was Mr. Yamada's, just as we
> thought.
>
> それはそうと次の会合はいつにしますか｜Well, then, when shall we have our next meeting?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-14T22:37:02.147
9440
2012-11-16T00:52:08.310
1556
question
grammar etymology
Etymology of それはそうと
Looking at [this page](http://www.geocities.jp/tomomi965/ko-jien03/sa19.html)
which references the 日本語大辞典（小）, それはそれとして／それはそう／それはそうと mean:

> "それはそれで置いておいて。それはそれで良いとして。そのことは兎も角。"

Which I think could be paraphrased as "leaving that at that"/"leaving that in
that way" etc, and is used in reference to putting aside the previous topic of
discussion for the present and shifting to another.

I'm guessing, with the phrases related, that the と might take on the meaning
of the 2nd definition for として at
[Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=13319400),
which is used for shifting from the current topic of conversation to another
(I can't find a direct ref in the dictionary for that meaning of と for the
time being, but I think it's likely it has that meaning).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-16T00:52:08.310
9452
2012-11-16T00:52:08.310
796
9440
answer