Timeline for When to use 'from' with 'whence'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17 at 11:17 | comment | added | Zsar | @StuartF: That question is linked and motivated this one precisely because it provides no hint as to how to distinguish the two valid forms (with/-out preceeding 'from'). That I am interested in this distinction is even bolded in my question body. ... Note: It may well be that the correct answer is: "There is no difference" - but I do not know that and it is a different answer to whether "either form may occur" (possibly in different tones/voices/whathaveyou). Compare: "the prostitute" and "that hoe" - same meaning, both can be used, but they are very much not arbitrarly exchangable. | |
| Sep 25 at 17:02 | review | Close votes | |||
| Nov 5 at 3:01 | |||||
| Sep 25 at 16:39 | comment | added | Stuart F | This question is similar to: Why need 'from' in "from whence his large yellow eyes glowed in the darkness"?. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem. | |
| Sep 25 at 15:40 | answer | added | TimR | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 24 at 15:21 | comment | added | Yosef Baskin | Note that Cambridge Dictionary does not call 'whence' curt. Curt does not mean shortened, but a negative, clipped, snotty form of communication. If you ask me for a small favor and I say "No I won't" without explanation, that's curt. | |
| Sep 23 at 17:51 | answer | added | Kaia | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 23 at 16:32 | comment | added | Lambie | whence is just from where. People sometimes do use it. So, the previous comment is mistaken. It is also used in writing sometimes. | |
| Sep 23 at 16:25 | comment | added | roganjosh | I assume that you know that nobody ever uses the term "whence" in modern language? "From whence it came" is used to invoke the idea of some epic i.e. smiting a dragon or some such. Using it without deliberately putting it into some fairytale context would make you sound very odd indeed | |
| Sep 23 at 16:18 | history | asked | Zsar | CC BY-SA 4.0 |