17th of April, 2003 POST·MERIDIEM 01:41

Okay, anyone I ever gave grief to over using “from whence;” ignore me, the use with “from” is valid, if redundant. Cf. the OED’s entry on its etymology;

[13th c. ME. whannes, whennes, f. whanne, WHENNE + -S suffix1. In all senses often preceded by redundant from, {dag}fro (FROM 15a), occas. of (obs. or arch.).]

It seems to imply that that usage dates from the 15th century (am I reading that right?) Which, to my Francocentric mind’s language centre, says that may be a result of people with a French-speaking bent moving to English as their quotidian language, and those people running the country, so their usage legitimized the construction. (There is no direct equivalent to “whence,” in French, which in this area is probably even more analytic then the Sachs Béarla of the British Empire.)

Again, this weather is so disconcerting. So much sun, in one place, and that place being Irish. Wow