Halftime Hope Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Laura Corin wrote, "I'm on a one-woman campaign to revive 'whence'. I just find it really useful for avoiding stray prepositions." Please educate me; pretty please? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 (edited) The knight returned whence he came. Whence comes this splendid feast? ( I need coffee ) Edited February 20, 2010 by alatexan68 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 The word "whence" is not preceded by the word "from" because "from" is embedded into the meaning of "whence." (see dictionaries) This structure parallels how one uses the word "whither". One would not write, "To whither dost thou travel?", but "Whither dost thou travel?" It is a good word to revive, I agree ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 LOL ! I read it that way last night. I guess that author didn't know the rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Laura Corin wrote, "I'm on a one-woman campaign to revive 'whence'. I just find it really useful for avoiding stray prepositions." Please educate me; pretty please? Thank you. Whence came the travelers? Whence came the Smith family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Whence (copied from the online dictionary) adv. 1. From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler? 2. From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast? conj. 1. Out of which place; from or out of which. 2. By reason of which; from which: The dog was coal black from nose to tail, whence the name Shadow. I personally like "Whence comes this splendid feast?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Well in Lord of the Rings (the movie) The high elf king (I think he was the king if I remember right) said "Return it from whence it came". :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 You also have hence, hither, thence, thither. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 "Foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force." :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 The word "whence" is not preceded by the word "from" because "from" is embedded into the meaning of "whence." (see dictionaries) This structure parallels how one uses the word "whither". One would not write, "To whither dost thou travel?", but "Whither dost thou travel?" It is a good word to revive, I agree ! Hmm, now I will have ammo against my mother lol. She loved to tell us to "go back from whence you came" when we were kids and occasionally now. So next time she says it I can correct her grammar :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 SO, whence can be thought of where you'd use the contraction "from where"... I mean... I know it's not a contraction.... but I can wrap my head around it that way... Otherwise, it sounds weird to me.... Because... I always thought it was from whence.... oops.. Carrie:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Hmm, now I will have ammo against my mother lol. She loved to tell us to "go back from whence you came" when we were kids and occasionally now. So next time she says it I can correct her grammar :) Not quite. :) http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fro2.htm quoting thence: (hehe) And even a brief look at historical sources shows that from whence has been common since the thirteenth century. It has been used by Shakespeare, Defoe (in the opening of Robinson Crusoe: “He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York; from whence he had married my motherâ€), Smollett, Dickens (in A Christmas Carol: “He began to think that the source and secret of this ghostly light might be in the adjoining room, from whence, on further tracing it, it seemed to shineâ€), Dryden, Gibbon, Twain (in Innocents Abroad: “He traveled all around, till at last he came to the place from whence he startedâ€), and Trollope, and it appears 27 times in the King James Bible (including Psalm 121: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my helpâ€). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 The word "whence" is not preceded by the word "from" because "from" is embedded into the meaning of "whence." (see dictionaries) This structure parallels how one uses the word "whither". One would not write, "To whither dost thou travel?", but "Whither dost thou travel?" It is a good word to revive, I agree ! That's interesting ~ I don't think I've ever seen whence without from in front of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Whence comes this dodgy attitude, young Calvin? Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 I'm going to have some fun with these! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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