Last night at dinner one of my kids brought it to my attention that I had just uttered the above statement, and asked if “nother” was a word. I was somewhat surprised to realize I had been unintentionally habitually using a nonexistent word. I usually consider myself pretty aware of word usage and grammar, and tho I do not always insist on “correct” grammar and usage, I generally think that I am at least aware of instances in which I depart from generally accepted usage.
Just wondered how many of you might use “nother” similarly to I, and/or if there are other mangled word usages you habitually use. Might “a whole nother” be a Chicago/midwest thing, or is it more widespread?
Yes, but you could just as (if not slightly more) easily say “whole other matter” and be perfectly correct.
I first recall hearing “whole 'nother” in commercials for Winchester “little cigars” (see the headline and last paragraph on this page from a 1972 article).
I was having a hard time coming up with an appropriate usage that I was contracting.
The closest I came up with was “another whole matter” - which isn’t quite right.
Or “a whole different matter,” which - of course - uses a whole nother word instead of nother.
Perhaps I should have said, “And now, for something completely different.”
A linguist will be along at some point to give us the correct terminology, but it’s a matter of inserting a modifier into the middle of a word, instead of onto one end or the other. This “middle” insertion is fairly common in German, for instance, and fairly uncommon in English – other than “a whole nother,” “abso-freakin’-lutely,” and a few other informal/colloquial expressions.
Why the “nother” rather than “other”? As previously said, because the word “another” is split by the word “whole”. I guess it’d be more accurate to write it as “a-whole-nother”.
I don’t think there’s any reason to break the habit. I like the sound of the phrase, and there’s no equivalent phrase that sounds good to me. “A whole other” sounds awkward and uncolloquial. The simple “another” doesn’t have the same emphasis/impact. Fuck it. Just use “a whole nother” loudly and proudly (except in very formal situations.)
I remember the campaign, too, but I’m reasonably certain they used proper English: “It’s like a whole other country.” It stuck in my mind precisely because of the topic we’re discussing here: Even though I knew their usage was correct, it sounded funny to my ears.
Apparently, they’re still using the slogan. You can get a specialty license plate with the phrase (correctly) printed on it.
I still think it sounds funny. I often say it (but never write it) in the colloquial way.