Is there any difference between the two terms 'often' and 'oftentimes'? They seem to be used interchangeably but is one more appropriate in certain situations than others? Is 'oftentimes' an older term that is commonly replaced by 'often' nowadays?
Consider this sentence:
Physiological tolerances can be measured indirectly by quantifying species’ occurrences along environmental axes (citation), which is often the only way such information can be recorded for large numbers of species.
Physiological tolerances can be measured indirectly by quantifying species’ occurrences along environmental axes (citation), which is oftentimes the only way such information can be recorded for large numbers of species.
Best Answer
Often and oftentimes may be used with little or no distinction to mean again and again in more or less close succession, but oftentimes is occasionally preferred for intonational reasons ("He had a sense of humor which was sometimes loud, oftentimes lewd, but never deliberately unkind [...].")(1)
In the following NGRAM often is compared to oftentimes(2).
It would seem that the use of oftentimes is very rare in written English language.
(1) Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms
(2) NGRAM is for written language only, of course.