Iâm reading a certain novel right now. Itâs good, but it uses the word âwhichâ in a way that really bugs me. This spelling and grammar pet peeve has been a fairly recent, but intense, one of mine for the past couple of years.
Dear editor of said novel: The word âwhichâ is not a synonym for âand,â âanywayâ or even a period. Here is an example from the book:
âAnd if you tell him you saw me smoking, I will banish you to the lowest circle of hell. Which Iâve never been there, but . . .â
Now Iâm not going to get all academic on you here (I couldnât even if I wanted to, anyway), but âwhichâ is a pronoun. That means it refers directly to something thatâs been mentioned in a conversation, or refers to the people having the conversation.
The character in the example I used should say either, â . . . the lowest circle of hell, which Iâve never been to, but . . .â or drop it altogether. If he says which in the way I just suggested, heâs referring directly to the lowest circle of hell. In the way that appears the book, heâs using it to refer to, âIâve never been there,â which makes no sense at all. He means to use which to indicate an afterthought, in which case an, âOf course,â at the beginning of the thought would suffice. Actually, in this example, dropping it altogether would make the most sense.
I know the example I used is from a character speaking, but that doesnât stop it from hitting my brain all wrong. Using which to signify an afterthought or make a new point isnât a regionalism as far as I know, so it doesnât get a pass from me. No sir!
I hope the above made sense. The thing with me is I usually feel it when a word is used wrong or a sentence is composed badly, but I canât often put it into words. A loud clanging bell goes off somewhere in my torso. I think itâs my mutant superpower.
Posted in Spelling & Grammar, Language.