Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrases><antonyms>
Title: Is there a negative counterpart of the phrase "thanks to"?
Question: The thing to which the phrase "thanks to" is attributed usually produces positive consequence.  I wonder if there is a negative counterpart.  EDIT:  Many thanks.  I have now learned that  thanks to  can gain a negative meaning via irony.  But what if I do not want to sound ironic?

Answers:
sents: text: "Thanks to" works for both positive and negative consequences.
text: You can correctly say "Thanks to X, the project succeeded" and "Thanks to X, the project failed."
text: Or another dimension is you can say "No thanks to X" if X did not help in any way (or hindered the project),
text: versus saying "thanks to X" because X did help in some way.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/4796/relaxing
score: 22
sents: text: I can't think of a specific way to do what you're looking for, so instead I'd suggest a set like the following: Positive outcome, positive contribution: "Thanks to X, Y" Positive outcome, negative contribution: "In spite of X, Y" Negative outcome, positive contribution: "In spite of X['s hard work/good effort/etc], Y" Negative outcome, aligned contribution/causal link: "[In part] due to X, Y" For example: "Thanks to Paul, we got all our TPS reports done on time."
text: "
text: In spite of Dave's colossal screw ups, we did manage to get all the gold we needed for the pyramid."
text: "
text: In spite of Imhotep's amazing invisibility, the heist was foiled by police.
text: " "Due to Grontar's enormous left foot, the ritual circle was ruined."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/2453/Aesin
score: 11
sents: text: Yes there is.
text: Look at this...
text: Damn!
text: The cricket match is cancelled and it was the final match.
text: All thanks to rain!
text: We are just being ironic there.
text: Here, thanks to would mean due to/or because.
text: Similar thread here .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/3187/Maulik V
score: 8
sents: text: Since you don't want to sound ironic try "In spite of" or "despite"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5645/user5645
score: 7
sents: text: In the UK, "no thanks to" is a common opposite.
text: As in: I made it to work on time, no thanks to the weather! or Andy Murray got through to the final, no thanks to the doubters, and went on to win.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5650/Guest
score: 6
sents: text: A suitable counterpart of "thanks to" would be "because of":"Thanks to X, the project succeeded""Because of X, the project failed."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5648/Mint
score: 5
sents: text: "Because of ...", "as a result of ..." or "due to ..." They assign responsibility but without a positive or negative connotation, whereas "thanks to ..." implies a certain amount of happiness about the situation (unless it's used ironically).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5669/Mike Ross
score: 2
sents: text: I'm a spanish speaker and we say "por culpa de" which would be literally "by fault of" which makes sense to me
text: but I have seen it just a few times really.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
A suitable counterpart of "thanks to" would be "because of", "as a result of" or "due to". "In spite of" is often used, and "Thanks to" can be used ironically.
Because of' is a negative counterpart, though 'thanks to' can work positively or negatively.