"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

[Champagne]

Why are these words so commonly misunderstood?

[Tim123]

'Wherefore' is not a commonly used word, so people give it the meaning it sounds as though it ought to have (where) rather than it's actual meaning (why).

This is not uncommon, I heard a former cabinet minister on the TV recently use the word 'enormity' as though it meant 'big' rather than 'evil', because that's what it sounds as though it ought to mean. There are lots of other examples.

[Quizmonkey]

Because of the word 'wherefore'. People assume it means where (ie. Romeo, where are you?) which of course it doesn't. It's closer to the German 'wof�r' - 'why' or 'what for'. Basically why is he called Romeo - she's lamenting his name in relation to the two families' feuding.

[Quizmonkey]

Tim - if people use enormity simply to mean the state of being enormous they're not actually wrong. The noun can refer to both this and evil, crime etc. Just odd that the 'first' meaning of the adjective is the vast one; and the 'first' meaning of the noun is the evil one (if you see what I mean!).

[maxi29]

The question that always baffles me is why doesn't Juliet say Wherefore art thou Montague?"? Surely it's the fact that he's a Montague that bothers her, not that his monicker is Romeo?

[Champagne]

I've always thought it strange that people interpreted it as Juliet asking "Where are you, Romeo?", especially when you consider the scenario with Juliet on the balcony and she has no idea that Romeo is nearby.

[Quizmonkey]

It's been a long time since I studied it, but wasn't Romeo a traditional name in the Montague family, and one that never figured in the Capulet genealogy?

[Champagne]

Good point maxi. I always thought that she was just wistfully contemplating his name! She met the guy earlier in the evening and was smitten. So she stands on her balcony and daydreams about him and his name 'Romeo', hence the line.

[Champagne]

Should add that I realised later on that this was not, in fact, the case! :o}

[Hellion]

The question that has always intrigued me is why Romeo as in RoMEo and not RoMAYo which is the correct way of pronouncing it as in Alfa Romeo.

[jno]

re pronunciation, bear in mind that they weren't Italians, they were characters in an English play and would be pronounced however an English cast, and audience, wanted them to be. Foreign names are often anglicised - so Roma becomes Rome.

Wherefore barely exists in the English language except in this quote from Shakespeare, and in the phrase 'whys and wherefores'.

[Quizmonkey]

...which is virtually tautological.

[Champagne]

I just had to look tautological up in the dictionary! hahahaha!

[maxi29]

Or in Shelley's poem, jno. "Men of England, wherefore plough/for the lords who lay ye low?"

[Kingaroo]

Similarly, some people think Whence means When, but it really means From where. Whence comest thee? asks where you're from, not when you'll arrive.

[joko]

i think, given that 'wherefore' is a rarely used word nowadays and 'where' is, that its quite an understandable mistake to make - its pretty obvious why people think this

i myself only found this out when someone i once knew tried to overcasually crowbar it into a conversation, in order for them to sigh and say how they couldn't understand how anyone could misunderstand this phrase, and how it was blatantly obvious what it really meant. it isn't obvious, as i explained to him.
I haven't forgotten to this day though.

it also sounds feasible that she is saying it because she is wanting him to come to her balcony, which he does. You may say yourself "oh john, where are you?" when john is late for a meeting. Without knowing the context, the real meaning makes no sense.

i think its an easy mistake to make for someone who has never studied shakespeare and does not know the story, and has only ever heard these words uttered in jest, or seen them written down.

[mike b]

Probably not helped by its misuse in pathetic tabloid puns, in the same way that an impression of Shakespearian/Biblcal English is meant to be conveyed by adding -eth to verbs, regardless of syntax...

[KeninDublin]

Tim123 you posted this on 15/6/06 -

"...I heard a former cabinet minister on the TV recently use the word 'enormity' as though it meant 'big' rather than 'evil', because that's what it sounds as though it ought to mean. There are lots of other examples."

- 'Enormity' DOES actually mean something of huge size and is commonly accepted as such, it's original meaning is now virtually obsolete even though it might be top of the list when checked in a dictionary, you will find it's alternative meaning is 'something of massive size' among others.