4 ms·

Not that it really matters, but "wherefore" means "why", not "where". Juliet wasn't wondering where Romeo was, she was lamenting that he was born a Montague.

xkcd-sucks 10y ago
This is the shibboleth of having taken high school English
- conistonwater 10y ago
  No it's not! There are tons of places in Shakespeare where he uses wherefore, and that one place in Romeo and Juliet is literally the only usage that's somewhat ambiguous. > Beatrice: Why, how now, cousin! wherefore sink you down? (http://shakespeare.mit.edu/much_ado/full.html http://shakespeare.mit.edu/much_ado/full.html) When your cousin faints, would anybody ask where they have just fainted?
  - schoen 10y ago
    "Shibboleth" doesn't mean "mistake", it means "way to check whether someone belongs to a group". "The shibboleth of having taken high school English" means "you can tell if someone took high school English by whether they know/say this". (It also happens that if they know/say this, they are correct.)
    - conistonwater 10y ago
      I know that. It's still not a shibboleth: on the contrary, the meaning is so clear from the usage (except that one place in Romeo and Juliet), that any fluent speaker will recognize the meaning quickly even if they'd never seen it before. At best, it's a shibboleth for having watched any Shakespeare, but that's not what they meant to say. There are many places in Shakespeare that are unreadable to a modern-English speaker without explanatory footnotes, but this isn't one of them.
      - wtbob 10y ago
        I think you'll find that many, many English-speakers think that Juliet is asking where Romeo is. Thus, knowing that she's asking why he's a Montague indicates that one is not one of those many people — it's a shibboleth for having had a minimally decent education.
webwielder2 10y ago
The author is discussing the "why" of the Mac, not its whereabouts.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

xkcd-sucks 10y ago

This is the shibboleth of having taken high school English

conistonwater 10y ago
No it's not! There are tons of places in Shakespeare where he uses wherefore, and that one place in Romeo and Juliet is literally the only usage that's somewhat ambiguous. > Beatrice: Why, how now, cousin! wherefore sink you down? (http://shakespeare.mit.edu/much_ado/full.html http://shakespeare.mit.edu/much_ado/full.html) When your cousin faints, would anybody ask where they have just fainted?
- schoen 10y ago
  "Shibboleth" doesn't mean "mistake", it means "way to check whether someone belongs to a group". "The shibboleth of having taken high school English" means "you can tell if someone took high school English by whether they know/say this". (It also happens that if they know/say this, they are correct.)
  - conistonwater 10y ago
    I know that. It's still not a shibboleth: on the contrary, the meaning is so clear from the usage (except that one place in Romeo and Juliet), that any fluent speaker will recognize the meaning quickly even if they'd never seen it before. At best, it's a shibboleth for having watched any Shakespeare, but that's not what they meant to say. There are many places in Shakespeare that are unreadable to a modern-English speaker without explanatory footnotes, but this isn't one of them.
    - wtbob 10y ago
      I think you'll find that many, many English-speakers think that Juliet is asking where Romeo is. Thus, knowing that she's asking why he's a Montague indicates that one is not one of those many people — it's a shibboleth for having had a minimally decent education.

webwielder2 10y ago

The author is discussing the "why" of the Mac, not its whereabouts.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]