Linguistic Lady Speaks UP

You've heard it before. Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

Where did that rule come from? Probably from an analysis of Lain, which prescriptive grammarians put a lot of faith in. I like Latin, which I almost majored in. However, Latin is Latin and English is English--I could go on and on. In Latin, one can't end a sentence with a preposition because prepositions are heavily tied to their noun cases, which they must appear in front of. English doesn't have much of a case system so we let that old "rule" slide by. There might be stylistic reasons for seeking another way to kill off that sentence-final preposition, but grammatically speaking, let it live on.

An old joke told me by Friend Carol is what I'll end with. A Texas lady turned turned to a couple sitting near her at a conference and said "Where y'all from?"

"A place where we don't end our sentences with prepositions," the woman replied.

Not at all fazed, the Texanne countered with "Well, where y'all from, bitch?"