Wherefore

And now, an important message from the grammar police.

--- In sdburningman@yahoogroups.com, "business_buddha"  wrote:
And this brings up a very good point.  Where the fuck is Magnus.
Magnus, Magnus, where fort art thou???

“Wherefore” is not a fancy way of saying “where”. Wherefore means “why”.

The most recognizable example of this comes from Romeo and Juliet.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Juliet is asking “Why must you be named Romeo?” or more broadly, “why does your name matter?” Or in the vernacular, “What’s yo name, got to do wit’ me?”

She continues,

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Speaking of which, and despite the presence of Leonardo DiCraprio, I recommend the 1996 incarnation ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117509/ ). I especially liked the performance of Petruchio, tho I don’t believe the Bard imagined him to be quite so flamboyant. And like Titanic, you get to see Leonardo killed off, so at least there’s that.

As to the question of “wherefore is Magnus, Magnus”, I believe it has something to do with the blacksmithing; I’m sure you can get the entire story (which no doubt includes a bit of mayhem).

P.S. Bonus reminder: “Penultimate” is not a more emphatic way to say “ultimate”. Penulitmate means next-to-last. November is the penultimate month of the year, for example.

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