"Where to?"
"Where to?"
(OP)
I don't mean "Where are we going to, I mean, "Where's the "to"?"
This is a quote from an article:
Is this another of those trans-Atlantic problems?
Surely (don't keep calling me Shirley") that should be:
"He's written to former U.S. vice...."
There is no "to" in "He's written a novel." but in this context the more complete statement would be: "He's written a letter to former vice-president..."
(By the way, where's the "Preview Post" button gone?)
This is a quote from an article:
Quote:
He's written former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, Virgin Group founder and billionaire Richard Branson and John Doerr at venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Is this another of those trans-Atlantic problems?
Surely (don't keep calling me Shirley") that should be:
"He's written to former U.S. vice...."
There is no "to" in "He's written a novel." but in this context the more complete statement would be: "He's written a letter to former vice-president..."
(By the way, where's the "Preview Post" button gone?)





RE: "Where to?"
Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.
Elaine Dickinson: You got a letter from headquarters this morning.
Ted Striker: What is it?
Elaine Dickinson: It's a big building where generals meet, but that's not important.
Steve McCroskey: Johnny, what can you make out of this?
[Hands him the weather briefing]
Johnny: This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl...
Elaine Dickinson: There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
Elaine Dickinson: You got a letter from headquarters this morning.
Ted Striker: What is it?
Elaine Dickinson: It's a big building where generals meet, but that's not important.
Captain Oveur: [Captain Oveur is in the middle of a phone call with the Mayo Clinic when an operator tells him that there's an emergency call on Line 5 from Mr. Hamm] All right, get me Hamm on five; hold the Mayo.
Rex Kramer: (points out the window) There he is. Striker, you're coming in too fast.
Ted Striker: I know, I know.
Elaine Dickinson: He knows, he knows.
[Elaine is relaying what Ted is saying to Kramer]
Ted Striker: It's a damn good thing he doesn't know how much I hate his guts.
Elaine Dickinson: It's a damn good thing you don't know how much he hates your guts.
Rex Kramer: Don't be a fool, Striker, you know what a landing like this means, you more than anybody. I'm ordering you to stay up there.
Ted Striker: No dice, Chicago. I'm giving the orders and we're coming in. I guess the foot's on the other hand now, isn't it Kramer?
http://imdb.com/title/tt0080339/quotes
Sorry... but you're the one who started it.
Now, back to grammar...
=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.
RE: "Where to?"
When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a thread about Brsl (an English dialect in which it's normal to ask "Where are we to then?")
A.
RE: "Where to?"
He's phoned former ...
He's called former ...
He's faxed former ...
He's text-messaged former ...
He's contacted former ...
He's written former ...
Sounds OK to me.
RE: "Where to?"
He's phoned an order...
He's faxed his details...
When I were a lad, all of these verbs would have (if they'd all been invented then) taken an explicit dative - "... to former...."
He's called Shirley...
and
He's contacted former ...
are different, in that the object of the verb is the person contacted, rather than the thing sent.
I'm not sure which of these classes
He's text-messaged ...
falls into, but I'm pretty sure
He's written a long whiney letter ...
deserves a dative.
A.
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
I thought from the title that this was going to a question about whither, hither, and thither.
RE: "Where to?"
Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group
RE: "Where to?"
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
That said, my personal preference is to use "to" after write.
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: "Where to?"
I also have a problem with the contraction. Is "He's", "He is", or "He has"? Context indicates it is "He has" but the lack of clarity is still there.
Speaking colloquially is one thing, but writing that way, if your not writing for effect...?
I sympathize and agree ith Henry Higgins.
RE: "Where to?"
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
Before anybody gets upset by that remark, please notice my spelling of recipient in my previous posting!
In language, if a mistake gets repeated often enough, and by enough people then it becomes correct. In maths and science that isn't the case. We can't make the world flat just by saying that it is.
I know a guy that still uses amn't I for am I not, whereas most people I know use aren't I. Who's right? I guess he is. But I'm not going to change!
Speaking colloquially is one thing, but writing that way, if your not writing for effect...?
You're - I make the same typing error myself, frequently. The fingers on the keyboard repeat their familiar patterns.
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
However, if we went strictly by the 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone' then as none of us are perfect all the time then imagine how bad things would get if mistakes/inconsistencies (whatever you like to call them) weren't pointed out.
This is starting to veer into the territory of my post the other they on there, their, they're.
Anyway, to try and get it right next time
Sentence, sentence, sentence, sentence…
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
"Aren't I" is no more correct than "ain't I". "Ain't I" could even be said to have a more solid pedigree.
If you want to be bulletproof, you're stuck with "am I not". (And I just typed "knot".)
Here's a cute writeup:
ht
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: "Where to?"
What the ()*^&)*(&
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: "Where to?"
As Greg says, aren't I is just plain silly, but that's what I was brought up saying. "I'm not sleepy, and there ain't no place I'm going to" sang Bob Dylan, with his excellant command of English using a double negative for emphasis. English teachers don't like it, and copyright only lasts a certain length of time. So if you buy a copy now you probably get a new song with "is no place I'm going to".
Walt Disney have released a new DVD which is like the old Jungle Book. A friend bought it. The singing is not so good and it doesn't have the voice of The Beatles' Ringo Starr as one of the vultures, but it probably renews their copyright by being a different work of art and saves them on royalties.
Marc Bolan's "brown tastes fine, brown tastes good, everybody says it's just like Robin Hood" is also tamed down on modern releases by what I think is a copy paste of a later different version of the chorus: "friends say it's fine, friends say it's good, everybody says it's just like rock and roll".
It could be that it was a version originally tamed down for airplay on the radio to make it palletable to the general public in the days when John Lennon had to lie and put "mastication" on the lyric sheet of Give Peace a Chance in order for it be broadcast.
Maybe I should bring this back on topic: deletion of unnecessary tos. I propose that to start a new copyright expiry countdown, Bob Dylan sales should consist of a new song Mr Tangerine-man with the lyrics
"I'm not sleepy and there isn't no place I'm going !"
RE: "Where to?"
However this is based almost entirely on films where some member of nobility or similar uses the word a lot. I'm thinking something where they're all wearing powdered wigs.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
If we're going to step outside the bounds of grammar textbooks, then "ain't" is just as valid as "amn't".
hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: "Where to?"
e.g.
"Where to is my jacket"
"Where to are my keys"
At least we now know where (to) the missing US "to" is going. Now all we need is to figure out how to get them back over to the states.
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: "Where to?"
English is a mongrel of a language anyway a bit of german, a bit of french, a bit of norwegian all mixed in for good measure.
RE: "Where to?"
I read an interesting book called "Albion's Seed" about the spread of English-speakers across the globe. The book talks a little about dialects.
It is apparently a principle of linguistics that the colonies maintained their dialect very close to the home country dialect at the time they emigrated. The reasoning was that the home country dialect changed more over time because the colonies were more concerned about maintaining their "Englishness" and held more to the old dialect.
Thus the Australian dialect is close to the way English was spoken in England in the late 17th century, the American South is close to the way English was spoken in England in the late 16th century (specifically Virginia where the Cavaliers tended to settle), etc.
RE: "Where to?"
So which English Dialect is English? While common to think of Queens English this isn't actually spoken, or to some extent written, by the majority of the population (at least historically as I understand it).
I have heard examples where the dialect of a certain colony follows the dialect of a specific part of England that they came from but I can't recal the details.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: "Where to?"
RE: "Where to?"
I've always thought of the lack of 'to' regardless of the sole object in the sentence being the indirect as an Americanism, but I've no conclusive reason for that. Similarly, I would talk to someone, not talk with them.