Meaning of だけども / ですけども

Question

I was watching はじめしゃちょー on youtube, and I noticed that he keeps adding

だけども / ですけども

at the end of sentences.

I fully understand the usage of けど, however I have never encountered も (or is it もう?) attached to it.

Thank you!

Answer 1

けど is the short form of けれども, which could be written け(れ)ど(も), because all of けれども, けれど, けども, けど are used.

けども is what, in my experience, is often used in a half formal, half informal setting. It is more refined than けど, but not quite as stiff as けれども.

Answer 2

けれども is a contradictory conjugation expressing something along the lines of "but" or "however." The ど/ども part in this expression is the part that expresses the contradiction. By a means of shortening one's speech (through laziness, etc.) the different forms came into usage.

The shortening is analogous to contractions in English (cannot -> can't). As such, this changes the formality/politeness of the expression.

The politeness of けれども gradually degrades in the following order:

けれども → けれど → けども → けど

[Most polite] → [Least polite]

Source: goo辞書

【３】「けれども」は、「が」と用法上の違いはなく、ほとんどの場合言い換えが可能である(例文(1)(2)(3)、と用法の対応は「が」に同じ)。話し言葉で「けれども」を用いるほうが丁寧な感じを与えるという程度に過ぎない。一方、文章語としては「けれども」よりも「が」を用いることが多い。なお、「けれども」は「けれど」「けども」「けど」の形でも用いられるが、この順で丁寧さが薄れ、特に後の二つはくだけた話し言葉でしか用いられない。

http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/17237/m0u/