I live in the Southern US (North West Florida) and I’ve noticed a specific kind of “where” usage that I haven’t heard anywhere else. It seems to be interchangeable with “so that” “to” and “that”
Here are some examples:
“He did that where he don’t gotta wait so long.”
“I set my alarm early where I can get to work on time.”
“He lowered his voice where they couldn’t hear us.”
“Did you give him a new key where he can open the house?”
I would like to know if there’s been any documentation on this usage, or if you’ve heard it yourself. Does this usage sound normal to you? If you have heard this usage, where are you from.
39 comments
I heard this often when I lived in Florida
I’ve heard it here in central NC.
I’m sure I’ve heard it also being in Florida. I don’t mean this to sound rude, but it comes across as less educated.
Yep.
In older generations in the South.
I’ve heard (and occasionally used) this, but with a “to” before the “where”.
The first two don’t make sense to me. I understand and have heard the last two (Texas).
My partner uses “where” this way. Usually with the added preposition “to.” For example – “I was so busy at work to where I had to eat lunch at my desk.” They grew up in TX. I grew up in the northeast and have never heard or used “where” this way until I met them.
I don’t use where like that but I’ve certainly heard that and completely understand what they mean.
I lived in North Carolina for a long time, and I definitely heard it there
Nope
Heard it in pnw Washington
Yeah this is pretty common. I do it sometimes.
Reading that made me feel southern.
I don’t think I have heard this usage.
I haven’t heard it, but I’d understand it.
I’ve heard that construction in New England. It’s not super popular but it’s not unknown. It’s just the clunky way some people talk sometimes.
I hear “to where” a lot. It’s big in PA and VA so I guess it’s kind of an Appalachian thing: “she laughed to where her soda was coming out of her nose.” They also delete infinitives there: “The rug needs vacuumed.”
I’ve never heard that. I’m a midwesterner.
I grew up in Georgia and heard it all my life.
I grew up in East Tennessee and heard where used like this plenty.
My relatives in rural Missouri use “where” this way. I hear it with a twang.
From VA, and am definitely aware of this usage and may have used it. Just a shortened version of “whereby”
I live in Texas and hear it, hell I probably say it 😅
…is this not normal? I live near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and we all talk like that here, too. Particularly those who grew up on some form of AAVE. Granted I’m whiter than enriched rice, but I grew up in heavily mixed areas and everyone uses where like this. Even in my English courses in college.
It’s like a place in time, or a place in the space you take up. It’s still referring to a place, just not a geographical one. Like the alarm example, it’s like putting a dot on a timeline. It’s a place on the timeline. Or lowering a voice, the place is on a volume level, like when you turn down a TV and physically see the volume indicator. That’s a place where volume changes.
I’ve heard it from extremely rural, extremely self-sufficient types.
A southernism. I think it’s shortened from whereas. Maybe.
Yes. I hear it used this way frequently.
I feel like it’s missing as. whereas
I’ve heard it too. It’s a non-standard / slang usage.
I have never lived in a place where it’s common, and I feel like when I’ve heard it, it’s probably been with a southern accent. But I can’t say whether that’s broadly applicable.
I definitely hear that in the Midwest.
“We set it up where you don’t have to worry about that.”
I also hear ‘to where’ used in the same way.
That’s really weird, and I’ve never heard it before
I’ve heard “to where” in similar contexts.
Never heard that in California
I’ve never heard it in real life in the west coast.
I had to think about this for a moment. My Texan parents say it. I’m in Kansas and have heard it. It seems to be used more by less educated people or those from rural or far western Kansas, like a dialect for both populations.
This is somehow better than the use of “seen” when the correct grammar would use “saw” by these populations. That one is way too common. My ex-husband does it consistently. “I seen you at the park.” This has become a pet peeve of mine, so I notice it a lot.
Can’t say that I have personally heard this almost at all in Michigan, but by the way this reads it almost sounds like “where” is replacing “so” in some instances; however, that’s just my simple observation in this case. I would need to hear more people speak this way regularly in order for me to really feel like that’s what’s occuring, though living where I do I feel like that will be rare.
I’ve heard it but I always thought it was people with a bad education. I didn’t realize it was regional.
I’m in Washington state. I can’t recall ever hearing “where” used this way.
yeah… that’s a southern thing….
They’ll also “whenever” instead of “when”…
“I was pulling into the parking lot whenever this guy cut me off and yelled at me for being in his way!”
“Whenever I had my tonsils out, I had ice cream for three days”