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People say this so much (instead of "another whole" way, etc.) that I wonder how it got started. How did "another whole..." get changed to "a whole nother..."?

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There's a bit of false premise here: the "proper" form of a whole nother is a whole other, not another whole (the latter sounds more wrong than nother). – Marthaª Jul 7 '11 at 13:17
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A whole other way? As opposed to a partial other way? This cuts both ways. – Daniel δ Jul 7 '11 at 13:31
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@drm65: No, because the expression is formed by analogy with things like "A whole new world of opportunity" - you couldn't say "*A new whole world of opportunity" to mean the same thing. – psmears Jul 7 '11 at 13:34
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As an adverb, "whole" means "completely", so "a whole other way" means "a completely different way" (yes, as opposed to a partially different way). If you switch the order around, however, then "whole" becomes an adjective modifying "way", which is just nonsensical. – Marthaª Jul 7 '11 at 13:38
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You're both right. I see now. Thanks for helping me! – Daniel δ Jul 7 '11 at 13:43
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4 Answers

up vote 38 down vote accepted

This is an example of metanalysis: taking two words that occur in close proximity, and re-analyzing them so that the word boundary changes position. In this case, the common phrase an other is reanalyzed as a nother, which then allows the insertion of the word whole to give a whole nother.

Metanalysis has happened several times in English, the most common being the word apron, which was originally napron, but suffered metanalysis from a napron into an apron. For this reason, I doubt that the creation of this phrase was an example of deliberate play on words. Rather, it's an example of a process of word-formation which operates sporadically in English, and has for a long time.

This metanalysis isn't complete, as most speakers, including myself, don't really use the word nother except in this phrase. I would never say the nother thing, for example.

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+1 thank you - very informative – Unreason Jul 7 '11 at 13:43
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@JSbangs: another nice example is ewt becoming newt, which goes in the opposite direction from napron*/*apron. – PLL Jul 18 '11 at 7:20
Excellent answer. I'd use this phrase aloud but never write it, so I don't know whether it will ever survive to get in print. – Lisa Aug 3 '11 at 8:00
up vote 14 down vote

In addition to JSBangs' metanalysis reference I found the following in classical rhetoric (as one often does):

Tmesis, Gk. "a cutting", Also sp. timesis, dissectio

Interjecting a word or phrase between parts of a compound word or between syllables of a word.

Examples:

  • In the following sentence the word "appear" occurs between the two words that make up the compound "hereafter."
    This is the place where Christ will come, as will here appear after.

  • In the following sentence, "whatsoever" has been interrupted with "man":
    He shall be punished, what man soever offendeth.

  • In the following passage, "heinous" interrupts "howe'er":
    If on the first, how heinous e'er it be, To win thy after-love I pardon thee. —Shakespeare, Richard II 5.3.34-35

EDIT: There are further examples in wikipedia's article, among which are:

  • "Any-old-how", in which the divisibility of "anything" (as in "any old thing") is mimicked with the usually indivisible "anyhow".
  • "A-whole-nother", in which another (an+other) is reanalyzed as a+nother.
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A very good, relevant treatment. Examples, however, involve compound words broken at word boundary, not monoliths actually "broken down". – Kris Dec 26 '12 at 7:51
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It seems like it started as a play on words: to treat 'another' like 'a nother' and then insert 'whole' between them.

I'm sure it would have been done deliberately. Word play is like that.

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Could this have been done purposefully, or is it unconscious? – Daniel δ Jul 7 '11 at 12:07
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@drm purely FWIW -- for me, yes, it sounds like a conscious, deliberate play on word sounds. NOT accidental or mistaken, such as when idiots say brought instead of bought. So (my guess) it's deliberate play. Further, for me it has a slightly Southern-USA feel (hard to put finger on why). – Joe Blow Jul 7 '11 at 12:08
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There are many speakers in various regions of the USA who officially pronounce another like a nother. To them, it's not a deliberate play on words. And really, a whole nother should be a whole other in "proper" speech. Anyway, @Joe, I can't believe you go so far as to call idiots those who mix up brought and *bought :( No one is 100% error-free all the time. You never know how close this might get to home. – Jimi Oke Jul 7 '11 at 13:07
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I don't think it's a play on words. I find myself doing it sometimes, and have reasoned it happens thus: I want to emphasise 'another' so I add 'whole' into the phrase. 'Whole', starting with a consonant, takes the article 'a', leaving over 'nother' to complete the phrase.

It happens because we still recognise 'another' as two words semantically, therefore try to insert things in between them.

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This is kind of like of JSBangs's answer, but much less technical. Which isn't a bad thing. – John Y Jul 7 '11 at 23:19

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