another lost preposition

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

today's entry in the Paul Brians Common Errors calendar (a gift from
Beth Levine) is:

depends / depends on

In casual speech, we say “it depends who plays the best defense”; but
in writing follow “depends” with “on.”
   http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/depends.html

MWDEU, p. 329:

In most senses _depend_ is followed by _on_ or _upon_.

... Many commentators point out that in speech this construction
[absolute “it depends”] can be followed by a clause with no _on_ or
_upon_ intervening, as in “It depends how many times you’ve seen it”
or “It all depends whether it rains.”  We have no evidence of these
conversational patterns in ordinary discursive prose.

maybe not back in 1989, but Garner's Modern American Usage, p. 237,
which labels the omission of _on_ with clausal objects a "casualism",
supplies three examples from newspapers:

   “It all depends when [read depends on when] the hardware gets
delivered.”  “Comcast to Offer Cable Modems,” Bus. J. (Sacramento), 26
May 2000, at 2.

   “So what is this place called?  Depends what [read Depends on what]
night you’re there.”  Tyler Gray, “By Any Name, Creativity Is
Welcome,” Orlando Sentinel, 17 Nov. 2000, at 58.

   “It all depends who’s [read depends on who’s] in the kitchen.”
Michael Bauer, “Lovely Grand Cafe Craves Stability,” S.F. Chronicle,
12 Jan. 2001, at C14.

tons of googleable examples, many from newspapers (where saving a
preposition might be useful -- Omit Needless Words! -- though the
manuals have this one under Include All Necessary Words), e.g.:

   How Many Site Hits? Depends Who’s Counting [New York Times]
www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22click.html

   Feb 12, 2008 ... What would Jesus drink? Depends who you ask
[Chicago Sun-Times]
www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/788745,CST-NWS-fals12.article

   How many site hits? Depends who's counting. By Louise Story.
Published: October 22, 2007 [International Herald-Tribune]
www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/22/technology/22click.php

   The Nation; Can We Talk? It Depends Who 'We' Is.  By STEVEN A.
HOLMES. Published: October 27, 2002 ... [New York Times]
query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?
res=9C00E5DD1F3CF934A15753C1A9649C8B63

the preposition is omissible only with clausal [wh-interrogative]
complements.  nobody reports omission in things like
   It depends on the answer to my question.
(cf.: It depends (on) what the answer to my question is.)

this looks like yet another feature of colloquial/conversational
language working its way into written language and somewhat more
formal contexts.

arnold

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