>
>}Pet peeve...."wherefore" means "why" *not* "where." This has
>}been your English Factoid of the day. :)
>
>And here's one for tomorrow. :)
>
>"Whence" does not mean where - it means "from where." Like when you
>see stuff that says to send something back "from whence it came" you
>know it was written by someone uninformed. You shoulde sende him
>backe whence he came. Ande aske him wherefore is he so stupide?
>
Actually, "from whence" is a controversial but often used form.
To quote Webster's:
---------------------------
Main Entry: whence
Pronunciation: 'hwen(t)s, 'wen(t)s
Function: adverb
Etymology: Middle English whennes, from whenne whence (from Old English
hwanon) + -s, adverb suffix, from -s, genitive singular ending; akin to Old High
German hwanAn whence, Old English hwA who
Date: 13th century
whence: from what place, source, or cause <then whence comes this paradox --
Changing Times>
- from whence : from what place, source, or cause <no one could tell me from
whence the gold had come -- Graham Greene>
-------------------------------
From allwords.com:
Usage Note: The construction from whence has
been criticized as redundant since the 18th
century. It is true that whence incorporates
the sense of from: a remote village, whence
little news reached the wider world. But
from whence has been used steadily by
reputable writers since the 14th century,
most notably in the King James Bible: "I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence
cometh my help" (Psalms). It is difficult to
label as incorrect a construction with such
respectable antecedents. Still, it may be
observed that whence (like thence) is most
often used nowadays to impart an archaic or
highly formal tone to a passage, and that
this effect is probably better realized if
the archaic syntax of the word - without from - is
preserved as well.
------------------------------------------------
Steve
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 01 2004 - 19:07:35 EST