Not a Word Peeve: Whither and Whence

 After having discussed who and whom, I have some locational (toponymic?) words to discuss briefly.

When's the right time to use here, hither, and hence? In the 21st Century, nobody even says hither and hence anymore. They are practically ancient history. 

Likewise with where, whither, and whence; and there, thither, and thence.

Here's the rule of thumb:

• The -ither ending conveys a sense of to.
• The -ence ending conveys a sense of from.

To beat this dead horse into a bloody pulp:

hither = to here

hence = from here

whither = to where

whence = from where

thither = to there

thence = from there

So when a woman bats her eyes and gives you "a come-hither look" she wants you over there next to her.

And when someone says "We're taking the train to Dorset, and thence to Southampton," they're saying that the second leg of the journey leaves from Dorset.

And this dialogue could have been lifted straight from The Lord of the Rings:

"Whence have you come hither, and whither are you going?"

"We spent the night in Rohan, and we departed thence at dawn's first light. We are in search of the road to Gondor. for we are journeying thither."

One interesting variation is the use of "hence" meaning "therefore". It signals that the you're using the last assertion or statement as the jumping-off point for the next one.

Another interesting variation is "henceforth" meaning "from now on, moving forward."

Not a Word Peeve, Just Fun: "Who" versus "Whom"

This one is just for fun. I am aware that this information is as useful as cursive writing in this century. Still, it's fun to know, and it may be marginally useful.

In modern English, the distinction between "who" and "whom" is disappearing, with "who" replacing "whom" in almost all usages. Want to learn how to use who/whom correctly? Read on.

James Thurber's rule of thumb

It was author and humorist James Thurber who said, in 1929, that the difference between "who" and "whom" is how high-class you want to sound. For example, if you're at a picnic with beer and hotdogs and shorts and Hawaiian shirts, and you meet someone new, you ask them, "Who are you, anyways?" However, if you're at a fancy black-tie reception with cocktails and caviar, and you meet someone new, you ask them "Whom are you, anyways?" 

And yes, he put the "s" on "anyways". Because he was James Thurber, and the year was 1929.

My rule of thumb

Anyway(s), the real distinction between "who" and "whom" is easy to manage. Since "who" and "whom" are usually (but not always) used in questions, the easiest thing to do is rearrange the question into an answer, and try plugging in "he" or "him" in place of "who/whom". If "he" fits, then use "who". If "him" fits, then use "whom."

To repeat: 

• "He" to "who".
• "Him" to "whom".

Two examples

"Who/whom are you going with?" Rearrange it to form the answer "You are going with ..." Obviously, the correct ending for this answer is "him". So use "Whom" in the question.

"Who/whom is going with you?" This one doesn't even need to be rearranged. The answer is obviously "He is going with you." So use "Who" in the question.

Another example, not a question

"Plan on spending the holiday with those whom you love, and who love you." This is the correct usage.

"Whom you love" can be rearranged to "You love him".

"Who love you" can be rearranged to "He love(s) you".

In conclusion, your Honor ...

As I said at the beginning, which one you use really doesn't matter, not in the 21st Century. It's just fun to know.

Welllllll, maybe.

It doesn't matter one whit in spoken English. But I think that in written English, it may move you one step closer to more precise speech.

Today's wild animal story

We love our new home. Our property backs onto open space, and so we always have the potential for visitors of the wildlife variety.

This morning, I woke up at oh-dark-thirty, like I always do, and looked out our bedroom window. In the pre-dawn darkness, I saw an inch of new snow in our backyard, and large footprints crisscrossing the snow.

At first I was concerned about human intruders, but upon closer inspection, still in the dark, I could see that the footprints didn't have the heel strike characteristic of a human footprint, with or without shoes. Old Boy Scout here, you know.

In addition, the footprints were in a straight line. Human footprints are almost always offset from a straight line - you know, left right left right - especially if the human is running around in a strange backyard in the middle of the night.

Cats walk in a straight line. Big cats leave big footprints in a straight line. I was excited for the sun to come up, so that I could verify that we had indeed had mountain lions in our yard last night.

As the sun came up, I saw that each footprint was composed of four tiny paw prints. We had bunny rabbits in our yard last night, giggling with leporine glee as they ran around our yard pretending to be mountain lions.

Bunny lion tracks.