History Main / PrepositionsAreNotToEndSentencesWith

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHeadDoAmerica'', Agent Flemming [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XCZfkGF8k admonishes a fellow ATF agent for doing this.]] That agent then ties his sentences in knots trying to get around this. Having learned the lesson, the latter later stumbles again and attempts to paraphrase, only to be reprimanded [[MortonsFork for getting preoccupied with unimportant things when it's an emergency.]]

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Diane dreams that Sam's boorishness has just been an [[ObfuscatingStupidity act]] for the bar patrons; he's actually cultured and erudite. As he plays her a classical piano piece of his own composition, she embraces him and says, "Forget the piano. Let me be the instrument you play on." Sam's response: "Diane, do you realize you just ended that proposition... with a preposition?" This is a RunningGag between those two, first used in "The Tortelli Tort". When Ed threatens to sue the bar over Carla assaulting him, Sam tries to convince him that Carla is getting therapy for her anger problems:

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Diane dreams that Sam's boorishness has just been an [[ObfuscatingStupidity act]] for the bar patrons; he's actually cultured and erudite. As he plays her a classical piano piece of his own composition, she embraces him and says, "Forget the piano. Let me be the instrument you play on." Sam's response: "Diane, do you realize you just ended that proposition...with a preposition?" This is a RunningGag between those two, first used in "The Tortelli Tort". When Ed threatens to sue the bar over Carla assaulting him, Sam tries to convince him that Carla is getting therapy for her anger problems:

* The story of a working class freshman on his first day at (insert prestigious university of choice)who asks "Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at?" and is publicly humiliated for being so crass as to end a sentence with a preposition, and told to rephrase his question without breaking this rule. To which he replies "OK. Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at, asshole?"

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHeadDoAmerica'', Agent Flemming [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XCZfkGF8k admonishes a fellow ATF agent for doing this.]] That agent then ties his sentences in knots trying to get around this. Having learned the lesson, the latter later stumbles again and attempts to paraphrase, only to be reprimanded [[DamnedIfYouDoDamnedIfYouDont for getting preoccupied with unimportant things when it's an emergency.]]

->''"That is the kind of arrant pedantry [[SelfReferentialHumor up with which I will not put.]]"''

If someone tries to call you on this, tell them that the Oxford University English Department says it's perfectly acceptable, and that you recognize no higher authority. And then say something that ends in "off".[[note]][[ComicallyMissingThePoint But what if they're American?]][[/note]]

If someone tries to call you on this, tell them that the Oxford University English Department says it's perfectly acceptable, and that you recognize no higher authority. And then say something that ends in "off".

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

-->'''Deux-Deux:''' Inspector! I have spotted something you may be interested in!
-->'''Inspector:''' Sergeant! How many times must I tell you...''never'' end a sentence with a preposition! You should have said "in which you may be interested!"
-->'''Deux-Deux:''' Sì.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

*** A similar exchange occurred in some greeting card:
--->'''Woman 1:''' Where's your birthday party at?\\
'''Woman 2:''' Don't end a sentence with a preposition.\\
'''Woman 1:''' Where's your birthday party at, ''bitch''?

-->'''Brenda''': This is shit up with which we shall not put!

[[AC:Jokes]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* One ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode has one of the villains wondering why O'Neill isn't doing the quips he's become famous for. Later on, O'Neill obliged.

* An episode of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' deals with Ray Barone being asked to make informed comment on the amount and quality of homework assigned to kids at his daughter's school. Being Ray, he neglects this task and his mother has to bail him out. She chews him up for ending sentences with a preposition. He also does this when reporting back to the school's governors. One turns to the English teacher and says
-->And you really want to ''cut'' the amount of homework we give them?

--> '''Creator/LarryTheCableGuy:''' Hey, tell 'em about the one you done did over at the whatcha-call-her.\\

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* An early ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip had a woman saying, "Up I hic!" In the last panel, Dogbert clarified that she's an English teacher.
* In one ''ComicStrip/MotherGooseAndGrimm'' strip, a delivery man asks Ham the pig "Where should I put these groceries at?" After Ham corrects the guy's grammar, the grocer corrects himself with "Where should I put these groceries at, slimeball?"

[[AC:[[{{Radio}} Radio programs]]]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[AC:WebVideo]]
* This is what sparks the {{hilarity|Ensues}} in the ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' video "[[GrammarNazi Downfall of Grammar.]]"

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'', Agent Flemming [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XCZfkGF8k admonishes a fellow ATF agent for doing this.]] That agent then ties his sentences in knots trying to get around this.
** Having learned the lesson, the latter later stumbles again and attempts to paraphrase, only to be reprimanded [[DamnedIfYouDoDamnedIfYouDont for getting preoccupied with unimportant things when it's an emergency.]]

[[AC:Other]]
* In his column, [[http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/ Peter Filichia]] objected to a lyric from "[[Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels Great Big Stuff]]" because he felt that the character wouldn't use a sentence that ended with a preposition. The composer later [[http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/06-2005/lyrical-cure_6108.html wrote to him]] and defended his lyric by saying the line [[RuleOfFunny just made him laugh]].

* Shows up in this ''Webcomic/PerryBibleFellowship'' [[http://pbfcomics.com/99/ strip.]]

* The story of a working class freshman on his first day at (insert prestigious university of choice)who asks "Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at?" and is publicly humiliated for being so crass as to end a sentence with a proposition, and told to rephrase his question without breaking this rule. To which he replies "OK. Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at, asshole?"

'''Creator/RonWhite:''' He just ended a sentence in nine prepositions.\\

-->-- [[AuthorsOfQuote Attributed]] to '''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''', on being criticized for this.

This is actually applying Latin grammar rules to English, and while some of those can actually apply in the latter language (like no double negatives), this one doesn't (same with splitting infinitives, which is ''impossible'' in Latin). Many sentences just don't flow in English if this rule is shoehorned in, and evidence has been shown that ending sentences with prepositions has been in the language since Anglo-Saxon. The blind insistence that Latin represented the "perfect" language and all other language grammars must be shoe-horned into Latin grammatical conventions bedevilled foreign language learning in Great Britain until well into the 20th century. Even utterly unrelated languages like Irish and Scottish Gaelic were forced into a Latinate grammatical analysis for which they were not intended. And in schools, "English Grammar" in practice meant applying Latin structure to a Germanic language, much to the bewilderment of pupils. This was the case even into the 1970's in many schools.

-->--[[AuthorsOfQuote Attributed]] to '''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''', on being criticized for this.

* (Anecdotal story, possibly untrue - therefore "in universe") When British Prime Minister was criticized for making this supposed grammatical mistake, he replied "This is a piece of insolence up with which I will not put!"

* This is what sparks the {{hilarity|Ensues}} in the ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' video "[[GrammarNazi Downfall of Grammar]]".

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'', Agent Flemming [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XCZfkGF8k admonishes a fellow ATF agent for doing this]]. That agent then ties his sentences in knots trying to get around this.

A preposition, a specific type of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preposition_and_postposition adposition]], is a word describing a relationship between two nouns. These include words such as "on", "to", "beneath", "before", etc.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'', Agent Flemming admonishes a fellow ATF agent for doing this. That agent then ties his sentences in knots trying to get around this.

The story of a working class freshman on his first day at (insert prestigious university of choice)who asks "Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at?" and is publicly humiliated for being so crass as to end a sentence with a proposition, and told to rephrase his question without breaking this rule. To which he replies "OK. Can you please tell me where the bathroom is at, asshole?"

[[AC:{{Jokes}}]]

* When British Prime Minister was criticized for making this supposed grammatical mistake, he replied "This is a piece of insolence up with which I will not put!"

* This is what sparks the {{hilarity|Ensues}} in the ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' video "Downfall of Grammar".