Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 March 9

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March 9

"where shall we lead our Association " - please help me revise this direct translation for it to become more grammatically correct yet retain the original idea?

I've also thought about writing "To what direction shall we take the Society? - but that sounds forced as well. Any ideas out there? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgoldstand (talk • contribs) 12:24, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Perhaps Where Are We Going and Why?; there are numerous similar ones on Google, which is more the kind of thing people would actually say in a conversation. I also liked I don't know where I'm going but I'm heading in that direction. Alansplodge (talk) 12:40, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

• Your original question "Where shall we lead our Association?" is perfectly acceptable, perfectly grammatical, simple and easy to understand. I wouldn't change it a bit. Unless it isn't what you actually mean. But there is nothing wrong with it. Your second attempt sounds a bit awkward. "To what direction..." is excessively wordy, and the word "Where" is probably sufficient. --Jayron32 12:42, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

"To what direction ..." would be more idiomatic as "In what direction ..." Deor (talk) 14:48, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

But neither is as concise as "Where" --Jayron32 14:54, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

But where can be taken as referring to a goal, whereas in what direction implies a course or route without, perhaps, any clear notion of an ultimate objective. Deor (talk) 15:11, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Fair enough. Which is why context matters It is hard to provide the OP with a proper translation for a bare sentence when a) we don't know the source text in its original language and b) we don't know the greater context of what they are trying to say. Absent that, I was trying to go by the general principles of good writing: proper grammar, conciseness and efficiency. In what direction may be appropriate, but it may not. We just don't know, and absent that, it is better to default to general principles of good writing. --Jayron32 15:16, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

I would like to put in a !vote for "whither". DuncanHill (talk) 15:13, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Oxford defines whither as "archaic": [1]. Otherwise it means the same thing as "where". --Jayron32 15:17, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

No, it means (according to your link), "To what place or state" which seems to me to suit the original question well. The OED says archaic or literary. DuncanHill (talk) 15:23, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Oxford defines "where" in the same manner, mentioning position (place) and situation (state). They are defined the same way by Oxford. --Jayron32 16:17, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

While the definitions you linked to have similarities, they are not the same. The OED goes into rather more depth. DuncanHill (talk) 16:24, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

It usually does. --Jayron32 16:28, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Put simply, "whither" means "to where", rather than simply "where". 86.155.145.152 (talk) 16:39, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

I like Alan's answer: "Where are we going?" But other editors here have raised questions that the OP needs to answer, if he ever comes back here. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:03, 9 March 2018 (UTC)