Whence-What the Nazi Grammarians Say

Grammar Nazi Flag

This article from Daven Haskey written in June, 2010 expalins the folly that derives from the wrong usage of such an interesting word such as whence.

I append his article in verbatim so that its clarity remains undiminished.

Here goes. 

" The Word 'Whence" is Pretty Much Always Used Incorrectly

Today, I found out that the word, 'whence' is pretty much used wrong,especially by modern day writers.

For example, (from the Lord of the Rings, spoken by Elrond):  “The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom; only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.”

So why is this wrong?  ‘Whence’ actually means “from where” or “from what place”;  so what was said above was, “It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from from where it came.”  ‘Whence’ implies a “from” already; so preceding it with ‘from’, which is commonly done, is redundant.  This is the principal advantage of using a word like “whence” instead of just saying “from where”; it implies the “from” already.

This is very similar to “hence” which, if used to refer to time or location, has an implied “from”: “from this place” or “from this time”. For example: “I shall go hence.”; meaning “I shall go from here”.

It isn’t just now-a-days that this has been commonly misused either.   Grammar Nazis have been long enraged about the “from whence” faux paus since as early as the thirteenth century.

Whence did this first start popping up?  There are numerous examples of the “from whence” incorrect usage in works by Shakespeare, Defoe, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and even several in the King James Bible.

So just remember:

‘from whence’ = ‘from from where’ = bad

‘whence’ = ‘from where’ = good "

Though they may have lost much of their use in English currency these days, many words such as lest,hence and whence are still appropriate if used wisely in context.

Happy learning English to you!

MAS-The Whipping Boy

Backlash from Chinese Entertainers

Today marks the 20th day of the disappearance of MH370.

So far, amidst speculation and theories, no plane, bodies or specific debris has been found in the Indian Ocean that can be linked directly to the ill-fated aircraft and its passengers.

The cry for blood continues, however.

Look at the car with the extreme message of disgust against Malaysia.

Disgust in Signage on a Car

Now, apart from condemning Malaysia of bad management of the search and rescue operations, MAS is also getting the short end of the stick from mainland Chinese-tour agencies are not selling MAS tickets any more.

Some photographs here tells us that even entertainment icons like Zhang Zhi Yi and others are asking, in the near term for reprisals-the boycott of films and music and song of Malaysian  actresses.and singers.

With new theories of what may have happened to flight MH370 arriving daily; until we have concrete evidence in hand, the search and sorrow continues!

Relatives from Okra

Willie and Lilian

Yes, in faraway Florida is my niece and her hubby.

These are their mugshots and frolicking times  in good ole America.

Dreamy Eyes

Ribboned and Packed

Flaming Red Allure

Office Cleaning and Tea Lady?

Alien  Challenge?

To endear.........

Sibling Affections with Li Shien

 Good Frolicking Times

No Diet Whopper!

Recovery and Probable Demystification of MH370

A Model of the Abyss Drone

Now that the official proclamation has been made by Malaysia,the recovery stage will begin.

Drone technology with the capability of scouring ocean beds up to depths of 6 kilometers will be utilised to find the wreckage of MH370.

Only three of these submersible drones called the Abysses are manufactured to date and  one will be employed to do this onerous tasks of recovery as the sea is an 'assorted dustbins of sort'.

In the event that the debris is found particularly the black box, then the mystery of the fatal flight will likely be known. Otherwise the world will continue with its speculation and conspiracy theories.

Alain Bouilard, the man who led the probe into the 2009 Air France probe, has cautioned not to take the tragic pronouncement of the fate of MH370 at face value as he feels that, at this stage,  it has not been fully conclusive.

He told the Daily Telegraph that for him, all those veritable wooden crates and fragments on beaches may not hold the answer at all.  To be conclusive, all debris must be identified, examined and evaluated.

The main issue is to use the latest technology available to pick up signals from the black box. This is  critically vital as the data within it will contain two hours of cockpit conversation and a wealth of flight parameters. Without these,no one will ever  know what transpired that led to the disappearance of flight MH370.

While the seabed probe was done 'without much problems' in the Atlantic for the Air France crash, the Indian Ocean is considered  a 'rogue ocean' that ships avoid because of its unfriendly nature--strong currents,fierce winds, violent storms and 10-meter waves and heavy weather.

The task even using the abyss will be a challenging one.

Official Closure for MH370

Technical Guesstimate with 19th Century Doppler?

Yesterday night 10 pm Malaysian time (24 March 2014), the Malaysian Prime Minister announced that based on sources of reliable satellite data collected and using the Doppler Effect theory, he confirmed formally that MAS flight of MH370 ended tragically at sea in the desolate South Indian Ocean.

Public  Outpouring of Faith Memorabilia 

With that, all grieving relatives as well as participating Search and Rescue nations could make subsequent plans for closure of this tragedy that took the lives of 229 passengers and  10 crew members.

The recovery phase will now begin.

Though no one at the moment knows what really happened on board the fatal plane albeit with all the conspiracy theories and speculation, some almost plausible, swirling around it; the world would have to accept the reality that flight  MH370 has indeed "ended " and has disappeared into the dark depths of the Indian Ocean.

Black Frontpages

The world has now begun to see relatives and friends  mourn the death of loved ones.

Fun Pics

Basketsunball

Yes, you do not need imagination.

Classy BMW Cow

Just creativity, the camera and possibly the computer.

Walla!

Double Decker flight

Freaky MAS Advert on Boeing 777

 An Ad Premonition?

This is one gruesome prophecy of MH 370!

That is the first thought that comes to mind!

Is the devil playing tricks on all of us?

Are words of advertisement a premonition of terrible things to come?

14 days and the plane has yet to be found.