LINGUIST List 2.596

Mon 30 Sep 1991

Disc: Whenever

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

  • Zoann Branstine, whenever
  • , Re: 2.587 Queries
  • Susann Luperfoy, PA dialects-- whenever
  • Marnie Jo Petray, Re: 2.587 Queries

    Message 1: whenever

     Date: Sun, 29 Sep 91 11:19:31 -0500
    From: Zoann Branstine <branstincs.wisc.edu>
    Subject: whenever
    I grew up in SW Kansas, and the use of "whenever" to mean, roughly, "when" is quite common there. I say "roughly" because "whenever" adds something to the meaning--I can't say exactly what in every instance, but in the example given, "Whenever I was in college..." my feeling is that the "whenever" emphasizes that college was a long time ago or that the speaker's life has changed a lot since that time. I don't think this use of "whenever" for "when" is particular to just Pennsyl- vania and Kansas (by the way, I say "needs washed" too); my sister-in-law, who grew up in Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Colorado, uses it too. Zoann Branstine

    Message 2: Re: 2.587 Queries

    Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1991 12:43 CST
    From: <LIFY460orange.cc.utexas.edu>
    Subject: Re: 2.587 Queries
    re: whenever they say "things like" 'whenever I was in college...' in Texas too, but I can't pinpoint it; south-central rural seems the most likely. I'm sorry I can't give some real quotations: I agree (with whoever said it recently on the net) that we should get into the habit of writing down remarkable things that we may someday want to use as examples, so we won't have to make up misleading examples when we're trying to analyze a phenomenon. That said, I will nonetheless attest that there's some funny whenever stuff going on in Texas, tho I have no real examples to help explain what it is that's really going on. C. Kamprath

    Message 3: PA dialects-- whenever

     Date: Mon, 30 Sep 91 09:53:12 EDT
    From: Susann Luperfoy <susannstarbase.MITRE.ORG>
    Subject: PA dialects-- whenever
    A friend from Houston who has lived her entire life in Texas also uses "whenever" in many places I (and everyone else I know) would use "when": "Whenever I was married we used to send out for pizza," "Whenever he finally got there to pick me up, it was too late." Susann LuperFoy

    Message 4: Re: 2.587 Queries

    Date: Mon, 30 Sep 91 15:36:08 -0500
    From: Marnie Jo Petray <2qnmace.cc.purdue.edu>
    Subject: Re: 2.587 Queries
    I have the same use of "whenever" in my native Arkansasan dialect. Many of my friends from the Midwest, North and East coast have commented on it sounding weird to them, even my roommate from Elizabethtown, PA. The when/whenever distinction for me is one of specificity. So, "whenever I go to the grocery store, I'll get some milk" means "this specific time, I'll get some milk". But, "when I go to the store, I'll get some milk" means "Every time I go, I'll get some milk." Marnie Petray 2qnmace.cc.purdue.edu