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Where’s The Party At?

Lauren

Took a break from cleaning the kitchen to sit down at the computer with a cup of coffee. I opened up by bloglines account and took a look at what’s going on at Alternet. The first article that shows up is titled “Where’s the Party At?”

One of my best friend’s mothers is a Toastmaster. Every time I went over to her house as a teen, she good-naturedly corrected our grammar, specifically if she overheard sentences like, “Where are they at?” A shrill answer would float in from the adjoining room: “Right before the at!”

Years later, when the group 702 released their single “Where My Girls At?” I bristled and grit my teeth. Your girls are right before the at. Same with the Democratic party, Alternet. The party is right before the at.

With my mood today, Alternet should be glad they didn’t get a certified letter of complaint.

7 thoughts on Where’s The Party At?

  1. I would love your friend’s mom. I spend too much time correcting everyone’s grammar. This is my all time favorite joke (insert the name of two rival teams): A Virginia Tech fan came up to the game at the University of Virginia. He bumped into a student and asked “Where’s the stadium at?” The U.VA. student responsed, “At the University of Virginia, we do not end our sentences with prepositions?” The VA Tech fan replied, “I’m sorry. Where’s the stadium at, asshole?”

  2. I remember asking a Latin prof about the use of prepositions at the end of sentences. He said it was an unnecessary debate, and the constant avoidance of it sounds pedantic and, at times, forced.

    It also irks me to no end when people unnecessarily put “at” the end of a question. I have no idea where it comes from; it can’t be chalked up to laziness. There’s an extra syllable there. My best guess is that “Where’s it?” sounds incorrect, so if you tack on that extra “at”, one’s brain doesn’t implode.

  4. This is funny bc my mom and dad used to do the same thing. I’d ask, “Where you at?” and they’d respond with, “Behind the at.” I now correct myself and bristle when I hear others say it – often using the same statement my mom and dad used on me.

  5. Well, what are you supposed to say instead of a sentence like “Where’s the Party at?” You could just drop the preposition and say “Where’s the Party?” but that doesn’t have the same meaning. You could try to fix it by saying “At where is the Party,” but, well, as Winston Churchill said, “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.”

  7. Wasn’t the rule forbidding the ending of sentences with prepositions forced on our language by grammarians who exalted Latin as the perfect language? I understand it’s impossible to end a sentence with a preposition in Latin.

    I’m a mediocre writer and certainly no authority on grammar; but when I read great authors casually splitting their infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions, all the while reading beautifully and clearly, I just don’t give a damn about some stuffy rule enforced by sticklers.

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