# Misuse of 'whenever' instead of 'when'.  Common near you?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misuse-of-whenever-instead-of-when-common-near-you/499598>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misuse-of-whenever-instead-of-when-common-near-you/499598 "2009-06-12T21:07:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misuse-of-whenever-instead-of-when-common-near-you/499598/21 "2009-06-17T01:35:20Z")

</div>

> [@acsenray](#):
>
> I have a good friend who does this. He’s from Pittsburgh.

I have a coworker who does this, who is from Pittsburgh. (I’m in Cleveland).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misuse-of-whenever-instead-of-when-common-near-you/499598/22 "2009-06-17T03:10:57Z")

</div>

> [@Sigmagirl](#):
>
> _On Whose Line Is It Anyway_, Drew Carey always said “Go ahead and start whenever you hear the music.” That always annoyed me, and puzzled me too, because he’s from Cleveland, and that’s not a local usage.

Yeah, while this sounds completely normal to me, the examples quoted in the OP would have me looking at someone as if they just started babbling incoherently.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misuse-of-whenever-instead-of-when-common-near-you/499598.md?page=1)