...that said, it is still the funkiest city...

"That having been said" isn't wrong; it simply means that something has just been said, and therefore you reach whatever conclusion.

"That being said" simply means that what you just said is something that is being said about New York City, for example. It's something that's being said at this time and most likely during these times, by you and others.

At least that's how I see it. :-)

Thank you both.

So, dude, you're saying that "having been said" is specific to this particular conversation, whereas, "being said" is something that is generally being said?

yes, pretty much. There are various versions of this phrase.

That having been said, ...
That said, ...
That being said, ...
Having said that, ...

The first two refer to something that has just been said and continue with the previous sentiment by building on it. The third one, IMHO, refers to a more general sentiment, while the fourth one, although also referring to something just having been said, is the only one of the four that almost forces the speaker to continue in the first person. The others can continue in any person the speaker chooses.

Thanks again!

I don't think I agree. 'That being said' (or 'That said') is just much more idiomatic.

'That having been said' is not idiomatic in any context I can think of, only awkward and over-literal. I don't think you will ever need to say it, even though it's technically possible. At most, it would be as part of a narrative that was already in the past, and in rather formal language: The priest pronounced the blessing. That having been said, he dismissed the congregation.

I have a vague feeling that 'being' in 'That being said' might be like something in Latin grammar. Any Latinists on board?

No, on second thought, it's not that complicated, it's just the statal passive. Once you've said something, it is said, just as after you finish it, it is finished. When you're describing a state, you don't need the active passive (is that the word for it? no time to look it up). You don't need the perfect if the emphasis is on the resulting state, as opposed to the process of completing the action.

Ok, that makes sense, too. Thanks for your help.

hm -- us, Ich glaube Du hast an den lateinischen Ablativus absolutus gedacht, der für verkürzte Adverbialsätze (kausal, temporal, modal) steht.

Im Deutschen nennt man so etwas "Partizipialsätze", die sogar bis auf das Partizip (I oder II) verkürzt sein können. In so einem Fall fungieren sie oft (meistens?) als Modalangabe:
(Das bisher Gesagte) z/Zusammenfassend möchte ich feststellen, ...

Vor Lachen auf dem Boden liegend ...

Kurz gesagt [:-)] ...

"That (being) said" scheint mir auch so etwas zu sein.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?re...
This is it. I was also alerted to the voguism by Samuel P. King somewhere in e-maildom: ''The latest abomination is the substitute for however in its many forms -- having said that, that having been said, et cetera. That said, I guess I'll just have to get with it.''

We turn now to Prof. John Lawler in the linguistics department of the University of Michigan: ''That said is an abbreviated form of the absolutive participial phrase '(With) that (having been) said.''' (You were wondering where I got that ''absolutive participial'' from? You think I make up this stuff? If I had taken Latin, I'd be able to explain the closely related ablative absolute.) Lawler goes on to the essential meaning of that said: ''It announces a change of subject, often despite whatever was just said.''

But let us plunge deeper into the vocabulary of vacillation...

I don't necessarily agree with hm -- us, but that's neither here nor there, Having said that, the above link may give you some better insight into all this. :-)

After reading that article, it seems to me that I shouldn't be saying it at all! :)

:-) I know, it's pretty frivolous, isn't it?

I also wouldn't want to be in that company, not even linguistically. :)

I also wouldn't want to be in that company, not even linguistically. :)

I was looking for a tongue-in-cheek translation of "That being said," and I stumbled across this thread.

I usually understand "That being said" not as something literal, but as a way to either lighten a conversation or take the sting out of a (back-handed) compliment.

NJ's opening example basically illustrates this point. Three pejorative adjectives describing New York City, then "That being said, NYC is still the greatest city in the world."

In the context I am looking for, I'm listing positive qualifications for a particular job or task, then: "That being said, I'm glad that someone else is primarily responsible for that task!"

Are there ANY more-lighthearted ways to say that in German? Nichtsdestotrotz and Nichtsdestoweniger sound so wissenschaftlich...

What about "Trotzdem bin ich froh," or "Dennoch bin ich froh"? if I may take my share in intuitive replies ;)

The ones you are mentioning are more a translation of "nevertheless" - which always sounds quite formal in my ears, too.

BSANY, thanks for the ideas. But it's (to my ears at least) not quite the same. Perhaps because "that being said" is in the same category as "If you know what I mean", where it's become such a staple of comedy that even written, one can "hear" the sarcastic overtones...