Where's that at? (the modality of) (sentence-final At)

[HenHanna]

Where's that at?


------- the [at] at the end gives a Folksy feel
(Southern US, or mid-Western (down to earth) (or "hick") feel


---- Maybe also... there's a connotation of Non-Permanence.
that something was put there recently (like a Sign-post)
----- unlike a mountain that's been there for centuries.


_____________________________


A visitor (played by Joe Pesci) to Harvard Univ. stops a student.

“Can you tell me where the library’s at?”

“At Harvard, we do not end a sentence with a preposition,” the student
upbraids him.
The visitor thinks about it for a moment and rephrases his question.
“Can you tell me where the library’s at, asshole?”


------------- from the movie "With Honors," featuring Joe
Pesci. In this film, he plays a homeless man who interacts with Harvard
students, leading to various humorous and poignant moments.


_____________________________

In Somerset, one of the few lingering regional dialect

quirks that you'll encounter frequently is the use of the preposition
"to" at the end of a question.

For example if The Wurzels were to cover the Scottish folk
song "Donald Where's Your Troosers?" it would be called "Where's
Donald's Trousers To?"



---------- In Devon too. There's the question "Where are you going
to?", and also phrases like "At the end of the road where the pub is
to."

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by HenHanna
Where's that at?

See also "Where are you at?", e.g. /Where you at/ by Lloyd Price:

[LionelEdwards]

Post by Anton Shepelev

Post by HenHanna
Where's that at?

http://youtu.be/K92b9ElL9r4

Alice in Wonderland:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky".

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by LionelEdwards
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky".
Vicious, vicious vodka,
Got me on this corner --
Now I don't know where I'm at

[LionelEdwards]

Post by LionelEdwards
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky".
Vicious, vicious vodka,
Got me on this corner --
Now I don't know where I'm at

For a better scan you have Byron's finest work:

Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate,
And representative of all the race.
Although 'tis true that you turned out a Tory at
Last, yours has lately been a common case.
And now my epic renegade, what are ye at
With all the lakers, in and out of place?
A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye
Like four and twenty blackbirds in a pye,

Which pye being opened they began to sing'
(This old song and new simile holds good),
'A dainty dish to set before the King'
Or Regent, who admires such kind of food.
And Coleridge too has lately taken wing,
But like a hawk encumbered with his hood,
Explaining metaphysics to the nation.
I wish he would explain his explanation.

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by LionelEdwards
Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate,
And representative of all the race.
Although 'tis true that you turned out a Tory at
Last, yours has lately been a common case.

Some impudent poetic license -- so to break a phrase
for the sake of rhyme and rhythm. Was he parodying
Bob Southey?

[jerryfriedman]

Post by Anton Shepelev

Post by LionelEdwards
Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate,
And representative of all the race.
Although 'tis true that you turned out a Tory at
Last, yours has lately been a common case.

Some impudent poetic license -- so to break a phrase
for the sake of rhyme and rhythm. Was he parodying
Bob Southey?

I think "impudent" is a good description of a lot of
Byron's rhymes. Calling Southey "Bob" was also
probably impudence.

--
Jerry Friedman

--

[LionelEdwards]

Post by jerryfriedman

Post by Anton Shepelev

Post by LionelEdwards
Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate,
And representative of all the race.
Although 'tis true that you turned out a Tory at
Last, yours has lately been a common case.

Some impudent poetic license -- so to break a phrase
for the sake of rhyme and rhythm. Was he parodying
Bob Southey?

I think "impudent" is a good description of a lot of
Byron's rhymes. Calling Southey "Bob" was also
probably impudence.

He could dash off rhymes with insolent skill, helped
by his huge vocabulary. Needing two rhymes for
"Southey" he found "mouthy" easily enough, but what
is another word that rhymes with "Southey"?

[lar3ryca]

Post by Anton Shepelev

Post by HenHanna
Where's that at?

http://youtu.be/K92b9ElL9r4

In Newfoundland, you might hear "Stay where yer to. I'll come where yer at."

Perhaps it's the other way around, though.