SIR: Can you please help me with the origin of "nother," as in "That's a whole nother story"? I've only heard it in conjunction with "a whole." Is it supposed to be "a whole other" or "a-whole-other," with "whole" inserted inside "another"? - Rodger T.
ANSWER: "A nother" is simply an obsolete variant of "an other." But few people in these extravagant days can be satisfied with just saying "another story." We have to put "whole" in for emphasis, and that messes things up when you try to write it. I suggest that you don't try. Write "another story," and save the "whole" to insert in a slang expression. That ought to take care of it.SIR: I hear the expression "Catch-22" and frequently see it in print, but I'm unable to find its precise meaning. Can you help? - James S.
ANSWER: If you're caught in a Catch-22 situation, you can't get out. The term comes from a novel of the same name, written by Joseph Heller, about some of the idiocies in World War II. The hero, a fellow named Yossarian, wants to get out of the service but is constantly running into catches in regulations. Finally he concentrates on proving he needs a mental discharge, but there he comes across Catch-22: If he's sane enough to claim he's crazy, he's not crazy enough to get a discharge. Any veteran can provide other examples.
SIR: Recently you spoke of "nothing you could build a revolution on." Shouldn't you have written "nothing upon which you could build a revolution"? According to English teachings I have studied, one should not end a sentence with a preposition. - William D.
ANSWER: To paraphrase a famous comment attributed to Winston Churchill, that "rule" is nonsense up with which we must not put. As various authorities have said, it's a superstition. Forget it. Instead, just for the heck of it, you may wish to remember the small boy's question to his mother: "What did you bring that book I didn't want to be read out of up for?"
TART COMMENT OF THE WEEK, from R.T.: "I read that a woman was involved in an accident `when the car she was driving allegedly disregarded a stop sign' and was hit by a van. You just can't trust some of these modern cars to obey the law, can you?"
HARD QUESTION of the week, by Walker J.:
"I read in my hometown newspaper that somebody had `two one-half brothers' and `five one-half sisters.' I wonder, which halves are missing?"