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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Wherefore

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'll use a romantic example today. (For more about the word "romantic" and lots of related concepts, check out my post on Review Me Twice today!)

I don't think anyone outside of high school students reading Romeo and Juliet out loud say wherefore anymore, which is probably why people so often confuse its meaning with that of where.




"Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Juliet isn't asking where Romeo is; she knows he's right there under the balcony. It's pretty obvious. They've actually been talking for a little while at this point in the dialogue, so it would be weird for her to suddenly ask where he is.

She's asking why he has to be Romeo. Why couldn't he be someone acceptable to her family? Why couldn't he have been born to a different family? Ignoring the issues of his personality being influenced by the nurture side of the nature versus nurture argument, he would then be a suitable companion for her, and they wouldn't have to sneak around and wind up dead. (Um... spoiler alert?)

So as tempting as it can be to sound Shakespearean while searching for your phone, "Wherefore art thou iPhone?" only makes sense if you regret your decision and wish you had a Droid instead.


Which one is the Capulet and which is the Montague?

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