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E. G

"when once I am there, I'd let you know." "When once the money is deposited, I'd make a transfer into your account"

I think one of the word should be used instead of the two simultaneously.

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    When once is less common than the one or the other alone, but the locution has been in use for quite a long time, and it's the kind of usage that would survive in regional dialects.
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 13:09
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    Where is "local"?
    – user3169
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 16:43

1 Answer 1

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When once is an older way of saying "whenever". As you can see, if we put "whenever" in your sentences, they have the same meaning:

"whenever I am there, I'd let you know."

and

"Whenever the money is deposited, I'd make a transfer into your account"

Also, "when once" is not necessarily "redundant." See this excerpt from

A Celtic Christology: The Incarnation according to John Scottus Eriugena, by John F. Gavin:

enter image description here

Here, both when and once are needed to get the full meaning of the conjunction. It is not just when he was... or once he was... but when once...

"When once" is not used much today, but it's good to know what it means when once you run across it.

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  • Why do you think that, when once you'd replaced "when once" in the OP's sentences with "whenever", they still had the same meaning? The OP's sentences speak of a single occasion in the future. (And I think it more likely that the speakers said "I'll", not "I'd".) And "when once" in Gavin's phrases means something different: roughly, "when" means "whereas, though", and "once" is an adverb meaning "formerly", "in the past".
    – Rosie F
    Commented May 29, 2018 at 7:51

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