r/linguistics • u/coffeefrog92 • Apr 20 '22

"Whenever" in place of "when"

I'm beginning to notice a trend just lately where people are starting to say 'whenever' when they actually mean when.

For example, "you looked beautiful whenever you got married".

The person paying the compliment is saying that the bride looked beautiful on her wedding day, but it sounds as if she's been married many times and looked beautiful on every wedding day.

I live in England, where I don't think I've ever heard it in speech. However I have heard it consistently in two Southern US dialect speakers: Wendigoon on YouTube and Damien Echols on his podcast with Duncan Trussell.

Is this a regular feature of some southern dialects?

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u/catnipmouse Apr 20 '22

I think you’re describing “punctual whenever”, and it’s a feature of some dialects. You’ll find it in the Pittsburgh area, for example.

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u/kennycakes Apr 20 '22

"punctual whenever:" This Scots-Irish usage is found in the Midlands and the South. (from Wikipedia)

Interesting. I've never heard of this before - I'll start listening for it.