Re: observable language change - "off of" makes it to the NY Times

In article
<68b8bb61-0e4a-4173-b31f-a49ed544984b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
analyst41@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

While "where are you at" is equally inapporpriate,

I am a native speaker of a dialect with a meaningful contrast between
"where" and "where at". The seemingly superfluous "at" is certainly
very appropriate under many circumstances.

"Where" is used when seeking general information, while "where at" is
used for getting detailed information. There is usually an implied
difference in immediacy/urgency, too. You would definitely use "where
at" when you are going to that location or trying to find a missing
item (e.g., Where's the car at?), and would not use it for asking
about general knowledge or trivia (e.g., Where is the Crab Nebula?).

"Where are you?" would be answered by something like "Arizona", while
"Where are you at?" would be answered by something like "at the corner
of 5th and Walnut".

N.B.: I don't claim to speak for other dialects, which may very well
have different usages.

One would think, given how often you rant about non-Indians making
claims about Indian languages, that you, a non-native speaker of
English, would practice what you preach and avoid the obvious
hypocrisy of making ridiculously incorrect claims about English. But
apparently, one would be very, very wrong.

Nathan

--
Nathan Sanders
Linguistics Program
Williams College
http://wso.williams.edu/~nsanders/
.

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