koch@elgar.DEC (Kevin Koch LTN1-2/B17 DTN229-6274) (03/26/85)
> This is a general question about ending sentences with prepositions. > It formally appears to be an illegitimate deed, but such forms are > universally spoken and otherwise used. > > Did those constructs officially (whatever that means) become an > accepted standard? How is that treated in ole England? Does Ms. > Thatcher use the title phrase as freely as Reagan? Terminal prepositions were well entrenched before grammarians decided to impose the rules of Latin on English. Its still perfectly legitimate to end a sentence in a preposition in German or Pennsylvania Dutch. English literature of all ages and calibers is full of sentences ending in prepositions and other things like 'from whence.' --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Back when I taught Exposition at UCLA I ran into a number of students > who used the transition "anotherwards." > > Upon interrogation, it turned out that they had heard the phrase > "in other words," deciphered it incorrectly, and... > > Another instance of misheard idiom resulted in "I am a pole apart from him." Or how about "if worst comes to worst" instead of "if worse comes to worst." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > An obsolete meaning of the word "upset" is "to set up or raise; to put > upright" (Webster's 2nd). It seems logical that this was the original > meaning. One of its current meanings (to overturn) is almost the opposite > of the original. Does anyone know how this reversal came about? Lots of words 'evolve' in their meanings. I presume that once you upset/upright something (especially after it has fallen down) that it is then susceptible to being knocked over again. Take it from there. Posted: Tue 26-Mar-1985 12:29 Littleton Time To: RHEA::DECWRL::"net.nlang"
gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (03/28/85)
At least insofar as Dutch is concerned, the business of ending on a preposition is *quite* common. I understand that German does it, too (German is, after all, a slightly debased form of Dutch ;-) ). The technique refers to a class of verbs called "separable". The verb has a preposition as a prefix [ ex: "opbellen": to telephone]. When the verb is used, the prefix is separated and then tacked on to the end of the sentence.) Ik bel jou op. (I call you up). In the past tense, one characteristically adds a 'ge' prefix. In the case of the separable verb, the prefix drops between the preposition and the verb stem. Ik heb jou opgebeld. So it doesn't retain its original position. Needless to say, it takes a little getting used to.