"whenever" for "when"

[Barbara O'Dea]

I am the roommate Karen spoke of. She used, what I would call a non-
standard use of, whenever in EVERY case where I would use when or
whenever. I am not American and had never heard this particular use
before, and when I heard another colleague from that area of the U.S.
(and of Karen's age), I jumped to the conclusion it was a regional
thing.

I will look at the discussion mentioned earlier as well. But I have one
further question. Do people use the non-standard when they write? For
example, Karen, did your committee have to edit it in your
dissertation???

odeeodee

Quoting Karen Naughton <kknaughton at ELLTEL.NET>:

> I am a user of 'whenever' and I am not anywhere near age 25.  In
> fact, I am
> more than twice that old.  SMILE!
>
> I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, if that is any help.  It's
> part of
> my dialect, I assume, and I'm not aware of how I use it or in which
> contexts
> it is appropriate for me to use them.
>
> However, one of my former roommates will be sending an email
> regarding this
> topic.  She remarked on my odd use of 'whenever' (which I thought
> was
> completely normal, of course), and will probably remember some
> examples.
>
> Karen Naughton
>