2799.6.2 A Second- Person Clause of Desire or Saying:
Whatever You Please/ Say
Synchronically, the pragmatic marker whatever has been seen as equivalent to
“whatever you say,” “whatever you think (best),” or “whatever you want” in
function and meaning. Could independent instances of such structures be the
diachronic source the pragmatic marker whatever?^27
An examination of CLMET3.0 (1710– 1920), CEN (1881– 1922), and COHA
(1810– ), the period prior to the rise of pragmatic marker whatever , yields a
relatively small number of independent whatever - clauses with second- person
subjects and verbs of desire ( whatever you please/ like/ choose ):
(34) a. “Very well, madam,” quoth Western, “ whatever you please. The girl can
never be in better hands than yours” (1749 Fielding, Tom Jones [CLMET3.0])
b. “And what wages do you expect?” “ Whatever you please .” (1828 Rowson,
Charlotte’s daughter [COHA])
c. So he said in reply, – “ Whatever you please. It is not important to us.”
(1854 Abbott, Rollo in Switzerland [COHA])
d. “ Whatever you please , M. de Pavannes,” the Italian retorted contemp-
tuously. “Explain it for yourself!” (1890 Weyman, The house of the
wolf [CEN])
e. Whatever you like. I leave both the choice of subject and the manner of
treating it entirely to yourself. (1847 Brontë, Jane Eyre [CLMET3.0])
f. SHE, quietly: “I could give you part of the money now.” HE: “Oh, whatever
you like ; it’s indifferent” (1884 Howells, The register [COHA])
g. Donna Tullia laughed in her turn, to conceal the extreme interest she felt in
what he said.
“ Whatever you like ,” she said. (1887 Crawford, Saracinesca [CEN])
h. I asked what he would have, but he only answered, ‘ Whatever you choose ,
madam.’ (1824 Hogg, Private memoirs and confessions of a justifi ed sinner
[CLMET3.0])
i. What am I to understand from this?” “ Whatever you choose .” (1848
Bennett, Kate Clarendon [COHA])
j. “What shall I write to the clergyman?” he asked, sullenly. “ Whatever you
choose. And I will send it.” (1888 Lynch, Madeline Payne [COHA])
Again, the tone of these uses can be diffi cult to determine, though often they
seem to express exasperation, irritation, or resignation on the part of the
speaker, even contemptuousness (34d). The speaker’s indifference may be
explicitly denoted (34c, 34e, 34f). In (34g), the speaker feigns indifference by
using “whatever you like” when she actually feels “extreme interest.”
27 Here I am assuming that when the whatever- clause is syntactically embedded, e.g., as subject
or object ( ask for whatever you like, whatever you say will be used against you ), it would not
lead to the rise of independent whatever by any simple process of ellipsis.
9.6 Origin and History of Pragmatic Marker Whatever