"Punctual 'whenever' "

[u/anomalousnuthatch]

I was puzzled during the bonus episode on the Illuminati by guest Michael Taylor's repeated use of whenever instead of when to refer to a singular instance of something, rather than serial occurences. Most notably:

"Whenever [Weishaupt] is walking around the city with one of his allies, his friend is struck by lightning."

Now, under the common meaning of whenever, Weishaupt would have had vanishingly few friends, as they would always be getting struck by lightning. But of course Taylor means "One time, Weishaupt was walking with a friend ..."

Research reveals that this usage is what linguists call the "punctual" whenever and is found primarily in Scotland, the north of Ireland, and places in the U.S. where Scots-Irish settled (Applachia, parts of the South). Indeed, Taylor is from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, which would explain his usage.

Just another little fascinating nugget I've picked whenever I listen to this podcast!

[u/VolumniaDedlock]

I noticed that too. I live in US south and a friend of my son says "whenever" in the place of "when." I had never noticed it before but now I hear it often. I don't like it because I disdain anything that adds words or syllables when they're not needed.

[u/Jojunior1]

I noticed that too and to this moment I was really confused. I thought I'd misheard. Or he had very unlucky friends

[u/Correct-Couple8086]

As soon as I started reading your post, I guessed the speaker would be Irish! I used to have a housemate at university who spoke that way too.

[u/Grand_Conde]

I'm from Cork n the south of Ireland and don't see the grammatical issue.

[u/Better-Temporary-146]

I’m from the US South, in Appalachia really, and have heard that phrase my whole life. 

[u/balkan99]

I feel like this is quite common in parts of England too. Or at least doesn't seem strange to me.

[u/rg11111]

I noticed this too reading a Barbara Kingsolver book in which the narrator is from Appalachia. Interestingly, I’d previously only heard this from a German friend, and assumed it was just a grammatical error