Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
It's a terribly old fashioned word - I don't think anybody actually uses it any more  .
"Whence" means "from where", and its partner, "whither", means "to where", but I suspect that you'd get rather funny looks if you were to use them in conversation! German, though, has exactly analogous words, "woher" (from where) and "wohin" (to where), which are still very much used.
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I have been known to use such words from time to time. I also amazed my daughter once by explaining to her the differences between "hither", "thither", and "yon". She professed no knowledge of any of those words, despite being an English major in college.
I tell you, what are they teaching kids these days? (where's my old man smilie when I need him?)