Did you fly O'Hance? A Fanciful Guide to Locative Contractions

As language mavens know, discerning speakers say “whence” rather than “from whence” since “whence” means “from where”. This pattern is seen in similar words: “thence” means “from there” and “hence” means “from here” (such as in “henceforth”). While an oversimplification, “from x-re” perhaps then can be replaced with “x-nce” in a sort of locative reversed […]

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As language mavens know, discerning speakers say "whence" rather than "from whence" since "whence" means "from where". This pattern is seen in similar words: "thence" means "from there" and "hence" means "from here" (such as in "henceforth").

While an oversimplification, "from x-re" perhaps then can be replaced with "x-nce" in a sort of locative reversed contraction. This doesn't work all the time ("once" does not mean "from ore" and "wince" does not mean "from wire") but it's a fun post hoc rule.

And thus is born my innovation: if you flew from Chicago's major airport, you will have flown O'Hance.

Top image:Nick Harris/Flickr/CC