"at" at end of sentence

[Bethany K. Dumas]

On Fri, 22 Mar 2002, Alice Faber wrote:

>Ah...but this specific use of "at" with "where" is hardly a stranded
>preposition. "To whom did you give the book?" is a valid, albeit
>stilted, variant of "who did you give the book to?". "At where did I
>leave my coat?" is just bizarre. The "at" in "where's my coat at?",
>to me, reflects some kind of regional difference. It sounds alien to
>me (a native New Yorker), but I've definitely encountered it often
>enough to not be boggled by it. If you want to tell me it's general
>South Midlands, I won't argue with it, but it certainly isn't
>American (as opposed to Canadian).

I have heard it most of my life (certainly in se TX, nw AR, sw MO, e TN,
and perhaps in s LA ) - I think of it as southern and south midland. The
local variant of the joke playing on it involves UT football fans and
Vanderbilt students (not generally southerners/south midlanders). The
punch line is, "Well, where's the stadium at, asshole?"

Bethany