It's such a cool word!!
2006-09-07 06:41:46 · 12 answers · asked by Tom 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I don't know whence you got that idea, but I was just thinking the same thing this morning!
For once I disagree with Taivo who is otherwise my idol--I suspect that thence, whither et al were perfectly understandable while they were in common use, and it's their falling out of use that has people confused, not the confusion that has made them fall out of use. German still makes the distinction and they seem to know what they mean. English has become much more prepostion-dependent over the years (we're down from what, six? to one case-suffix on nouns) and "from where" is just another example of that.
2006-09-07 09:28:41 · answer #1 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good point!!
All we need to do is start a national movement where people boycott any TV network where "whence" is not used at least once an hour and any magazine that doesn't include "whence" at least once a page. We could call it the Whence Once Campaign.
2006-09-07 14:04:09 · answer #2 · answered by beast 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The main reason it is going out of use is that most people get utterly confused over the meaning of the various pairs, "whence/whither", "thence/thither", and "hence/hither". "I go hence" is a pair with "I go thither", while "I come hither" is a pair with "I come thence". This gets very confusing for most people and so the three pairs are rapidly falling out of use.
2006-09-07 13:51:47 · answer #3 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dost thou infer one ought to imbue the word hither and yon in one's prose? Nay, 'twould betray an alacrity that is unbecoming.
2006-09-07 14:02:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is a cool word, but it's old so that why we don't use it anymore. But hey, start using it and we'll bring it back!
2006-09-07 16:26:51 · answer #5 · answered by horselover1416 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cool but mostly unknown - other words convey what you are trying to say more effectively!@
2006-09-07 13:52:54 · answer #6 · answered by nswblue 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I know. We are lucky that HALF of the people on this site can even spell somewhat correctly.
2006-09-07 13:47:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Whence for? Could you use it in a sentence? I never hear that word!
2006-09-07 13:44:57 · answer #8 · answered by shepherd 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
You're asking this on Yahoo! Answers??
....land of the worst grammar offenses ever....
2006-09-07 13:44:49 · answer #9 · answered by Lee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thou sayest it.
2006-09-07 13:44:31 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋