On Tomorrow

I have never heard such an aurally odious phrase! I went to high school in Texas and have never heard (or spoken) such a phrase. If it is a Southern thing, it must have not made it this south. :)

Also, I agree--"we will have a staff meeting tomorrow" sound fine...and is grammatically correct!

We are in God's hand, brother, not in theirs.
March to the bridge; it now draws toward night:
Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves,
And on to-morrow, bid them march away.
- Henry V, act III scene vi

The OED notes that "on" is "Now also (esp. U.S. and Irish English) used with tomorrow, yesterday, etc., app. redundantly". I think they say it's redundant because etymologically "tomorrow" already contains the preposition "to".

But as the Shakespeare quote shows it's quite an old usage. And "on" is used with other expressions of time, for instance "on the weekend", "on nights", where just "the weekend" and "nights" could be used without any confusion.

Some usage books complain about it, tho.

Let me revise: "on" is used with other expressions of time:
I work on weekends.
I work weekends.
Let's get together Thursday.
Let's get together on Thursday.

I don't know how far south the expression goes, but I have heard many people say it in Kentucky.

I live outside Nashville, TN and I have yet to hear someone utter the words "on tomorrow" or "on yesterday." I have often heard "on the weekend" or "on Thursday."

Maybe it's a sign that you should move back Nawth.

I have lived in Texas all my life. I am also a school teacher. I had never heard the phrase until last year when our new principal used it in a faculty meeting. Many of us thought it was just a slip-up. However, since then we have added a new counselor who always uses the phrase. I don't know where it came from or how it got started but it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I'm from Hong Kong and people use the phrase very often. Maybe this a Hong Kong thing but is now spreading over to the US.

I think that way back when (I am not sure how far back), people would have said "on the morrow" where we would now say "tomorrow." I wonder if "tomorrow" actually evolved as an elision of "the morrow." The Shakespeare quote given above may represent a sort of half way point in the evolution of the modern word, and perhaps "on tomorrow" is a slightly later stage, and thus not a new form but an older one.

On second thoughts, I wonder if these Georgians you are talking about might really be saying "on the morrow," and (perhaps because of the unfamiliar accent) you are mishearing it. "Morrow" still appears in modern dictionaries, although it is usually marked as literary, archaic, or obsolete (but maybe not so much in Georgia).

When I think of the preposition 'on', I am reminded that people often use it in the place of 'upon'. Were 'on' in that phrase to be replaced with 'upon', it would seem to make more sense. "Upon dawn," for example, would mean, "when dawn occurs." But "upon tomorrow," or even, "when tomorrow occurs," makes hardly any sense, because I doubt the time they are referring to is 12:00 AM. There are some removed instances when using such a phrase can be correct, but generally, it seems to be a misuse of prepositions.

This is a commonly used phrase in India, by people who do not speak good (correct) English.

Sounds like it's just an old-fashioned way of saying things that got stuck in some crevices. I like old-fashioned verbiage, idiom, regional dialect... but I find Brooklyn accents odious to the point of occasionally switching off the radio in horror, so I can't tell other people what to dislike about a switch in regional style.

I thought that the usage of the phrase was a regional issue until I heard an MSNBC reporter use it yesterday. It's a growing trend and technically, it is grammatically incorrect.
Here's why:

The most common misuse of the phrase "on tomorrow" occurs where "tomorrow" is used as an adverb in a sentence, i.e.: "I'll return this report to you on tomorrow." Adverbs can not be the object of a preposition.

Part of speech is dependant on function within the sentence. If a word is used as an adverb and is acting as an adverb in the sentence structure, then it is an adverb.

The word "tomorrow" already includes the IMPLIED prepositions "on" or "to" and was once written as "to morrow". Later, hyphens were added (to-morrow) and then eventually, the words were joined without the hypen (tomorrow). "Yesterday", "Today" and "Tomorrow" do not require the preposition "on" for the same reason. "On the morrow" is already implied with the word "tomorrow". Adding "on" or "to" is redundant.

Generally, the preposition "on" is paired with holidays, specific days of the week, or dates. This has been the practice from Old English to the present.

Examples: on Christmas; on Bastille Day; on Friday; on Monday; on May 15th; on October 2, 2009.......

Had the sentence read "On the morrow, I will return this report to you", it would have been a correct, albeit obsolete, use of the phrase "on tomorrow".

I hope this clarifies the matter. For the record, I live and work in Memphis. I hear the phrase daily.........and it makes me cringe every time! I thought it a reflection of the local school system. Should I be glad it isn't just a local trend?

(I'm more and more thankful for the private school education I received! I think my parents daily!)

I live in Mobile, Alabama and have heard this phrase said by the older teachers at my high school, and I hate it! All of my peers would snicker whenever a teacher would say it, so I don't think it is spreading to the youth, atleast not where I live. I lived in South Florida for 13 years and have never heard the phrase uttered, not even as a mistake. I'm assuming it will mostly be heard in the bible-belt.

As for "on tomorrow" being for the older people in the south, the kids my age don't say they "live" somewhere, they say they "stay" somewhere. After I moved here from florida, someone asked me where I stayed and I had no idea what they were talking about,but they were simply asking me where I lived!

I work at LSU and one of my colleagues says "on tomorrow." She started in my department a month or two ago. I hadn't heard that phrase before I met her. It drives me bananas!

I am a native South Carolinian living in south Georgia, and not until the past 6 months have I heard this usage. I have been Googling it for several months; that is how I came upon this discussion. From the above posts, it seems to be a form of speech that has been migrating across the country.

I have heard this "on tomorrow" so many times here in Georgia and I want to correct those who say it and don't know how, since I feel people would be embarrassed. But it grinds me the same way it does you. How do we get the word out that "tomorrow" and "yesterday" is simply all you need to say, especially in those church announcements.

I attended high school in Marietta, GA, and my homeroom teacher said "on tomorrow." She is the only person I have encountered that used the phrase in conversation. It always made me feel better about myself whenever she used it.

Wow. I'm sorry that I needed people like her to feel better about myself.

Although, I think it would be hilarious if the South revived "on the morrow." It would make life a little more interesting.

I have been hearing this phrase for several years now. Unfortunately, I hear it from teachers and school administrators of African-American decent. I'm not sure if it is cultural or not - but I agree that it is incorrect grammar and should never be used in a school setting.

I live in New Orleans and I have never heard it before I moved here and got the current job I have. Every so often it shows up in company emails and it drives me bananas. So much that I googled it to see if I could find anything.

"We will have a meeting on tomorrow Thursday."

I originally thought it was Outlook with a very bad error in the grammar/spell check suggesting it but nope.

Easily the most annoying thing ever. And its not just one person at work, its several.

I like Angela G's answer. She is correct: "tomorrow" descends from "on the morrow." As such, "on tomorrow" is grammatically redundant. I'd like to think "on tomorrow" means "on t'morrow," but that usage went bye-bye in the 16th century.

I suspect that "on tomorrow" is a regionalism—a southern one, judging from the comments. I am a fan of regional talk. It both enriches the language and lets you know you are someplace else.

I have a principal that says on tomorrow on the loudspeaker during announcements almost every day. It drives me NUTS! I want to run up there and give him a grammar lesson every day. Perhaps I will... on tomorrow. Eeeekkkk!!!

He is of African-American decent. It is a Southern Black thing. It is incorrect.

I am a native Philadelphian, and am currently a senior at a university in Washington, DC. Until I came here I'd never heard it. It's nails on a chalkboard to me! I quite literally cringe everytime I hear it, and it seems as though I do several times each day.

It's not an African-American dialect for all of you who have assumed such a position. It's more a regional dialect and drives me crazy! I am an African-American from New England from a very affluent Maryland family. We abhor the grammatically incorrect phrase. My english studies has always deemed the phrase "on tomorrow" grossly incorrect. But I've observed colleged educated (many many teachers) Baltimore/DC metro area people of all ethnicities and cultures using the phrase. The experience is like nails on the chalkboard to me as well. But truly, it's not a big deal. :)

It's not a Southern thing; it's a "stupid" thing.

i have certainly heard it in Atlanta!

I teach at a historically black school in South Carolina, and it is very common.

Sadly, On Tomorrow is alive and well in Central Florida. I moved from PA to Florida to work in the school system and was horrified when I heard teachers and principals using the term. It horrifies me!

I am as Southern as they come in Charleston South Carolina and I have happened upon this site in a search to find why people say on when referring to tomorrow. I have a few colleagues that use this phrase not just in their speech, but they will write it as well. It is an awkward use of our language and it is NOT a Southern thing. It is simply a mis-taught, or better yet learned, use of the language and is no more correct than ain't, idn't, and y'all... which ARE all a Southern thing!!! but do not sound so ridiculous as 'on tomorrow.'

I am from Tennessee and have lived among rural as well as urban populations. I've also lived in N. Dakota and Kentucky. However, I had never heard this expression until I began working in metro Atlanta schools. The first time I heard it was from an administrator. Since that time, I hear it almost daily and always from African-Americans from the south. Recently a young African-American student from the N.E. informed her classmate who had used the expression that there was no such usage as "on tomorrow." Certainly this may have "hung around" since the early 17th century when slaves learned English from owners of that era. Still, it would seem that an educated person would have learned verb usage and would demonstrate good English usage especially in a school setting. After 10 years of hearing this term, I still cringe. Growing up I thought a good education should evoke some kind of change in a person. But I meet many masters and PH.D degreed persons who I would never guess had an extensive college education. To bad really, especially as they are educators.

In my observation, I have never heard a white redneck in the South say, “on tomorrow.”

It is a southern black thing. As previously mentioned, it's usually used by public school teachers or administrators. In their efforts to overcome negative stereotypes about their intelligence and speech patterns they over enunciate and add extra words. It's tragic that they're trying so hard not to use Ebonics but just end up sounding ignorant anyway. And what teacher is going to have the courage to go up and correct their principal?

Sharon, I'm not trying to be mean, but while we're on the topic of correcting people's grammar, don't you mean "too bad"?

I agree with Ryan.... I just didn't want to offend anyone... but now that someone else said it... :) It is a black thing. And it is predominantly heard by otherwise successful black people. It is annoying and I hear it daily!!! UGH!!! Which is why after all this time.. I am still obsessing about it on this post.

What bothers me—really bothers me—is intolerance. On this site we discuss the English language. One marvelous aspect of English is its variability, its malleability. English is spoken in all parts of the world, and it exists in standard forms (mainly British and American, but with others ascendant) and non-standard forms. It is a gross misunderstanding of the language to believe that non-standard speech equals ignorance. And it is intolerance to reject non-standard yet perfectly understandable phrases like "on tomorrow" as ignorant.

Is "on tomorrow" a "black thing?" Maybe, and maybe not. That is a question for linguists; it is interesting but beside the point. Is it grammatically wrong? No it is not wrong, any more than "on Tuesday" is wrong. Is "We'll meet tomorrow" more concise than "We'll meet on tomorrow?" Of course it is, just as "Tuesday" is more concise "on Tuesday." So what? Are we all suddenly Hemingway, with no room for rhetoric? I think not.

Regional variety is just that: variety. Enjoy it. Think of it as an unfamiliar spice.

Plus which—another non-standard phrase given currency by a certain Oxford-educated U.S. president—when you start talking about "otherwise successful black people" you risk expressing prejudice, and you invite it.

I too have a principal in Texas, she is black and says it every morning. We are all making a joke about it, but wish she would just stop. She also "axs"everyone to attend the staff meeting "on tomorrow". We are teachers for goodness sakes! I wish I had the nerve to send this to her;

I have addressed the ask/axe issue elsewhere, but it seems to bear repeating.

The pronunciation of "ask" as "aks" is sometimes seen as a sign of ignorance or poor education, but it is not. Nor is it a race-based variant. I found the following explanation online:

"While the pronunciation /aks/ for ask is not considered standard, it is a very common regional pronunciation with a long history. The Old English verb áscian underwent a normal linguistic process called metathesis sometime in the 14th century. Metathesis is what occurs when two sounds or syllables switch places in a word. This happens all the time in spoken language (think nuclear pronounced as /nukular/ and asterisk pronounced as /asteriks/).

Metathesis is usually a slip of the tongue, but (as in the cases of /asteriks/ and /nukular/) it can become a variant of the original word. This alternative version in Old English was axian or acsian, as in Chaucer's: "I axe, why the fyfte man Was nought housband to the Samaritan?" (Wife's Prologue 1386). Ascian and axian co-existed and evolved separately in various regions of England. The ascian version gives us the modern standard English ask, but the axian variant ax can still be found in England's Midland and Southern dialects.

In American English, the /aks/ pronunciation was originally dominant in New England. The popularity of this pronunciation faded in the North early in the 19th century as it became more common in the South. Today the pronunciation is perceived in the US as either Southern or African-American. Both of these perceptions underestimate the popularity of the form.

/aks/ is still found frequently in the South, and is a characteristic of some speech communities as far North as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Iowa. It is one of the shared characteristics between African-American English and Southern dialects of American English. The wide distribution of speakers from these two groups accounts for the presence of the /aks/ pronunciation in Northern urban communities.

So in fact, ... /aks/ [is] a regional pronunciation, one with a distribution that covers nearly half of the territory in the United States and England."

Source: http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991216

Perhaps instead of making fun of your principal behind her back—hardly a professional thing to do—you should consider that she is merely quoting Chaucer.

Douglas, calm down.

As you aptly pointed out, we had a white President who was infamous for mispronouncing nuclear, and I, a white man, have probably mispronounced asterisk myself. Just because someone else has made the same error, doesn’t mean it is proper or standard English. It’s great to celebrate the diversity in non-standard English or different dialects, but a professional setting among professional educators calls for standard English.

If you celebrate diversity among non-standard English, you shouldn’t be so offended at the observation that cultural backgrounds affect the way we all speak. I’m sure if we went deep enough into Appalachia or watched enough of The Beverly Hillbillies we would find plenty of uniquely white non-standard variations.

Ryan,

The pronunciation of "ask" as "aks" is not an ordinary mispronunciation. It is indeed a Metathesis, but a very old one. It is non-standard, yes, but widespread. I agree that cultural background influences the way we all speak. But in the case of ask/aks the cultural factor is not merely race-based.

Also Douglas,
I will add that while quoting Chaucer may be a very intelligent showing of your vast knowledge of the English language's History.... "Quoting" him unknowingly would only confirm our sentiments as Chaucer is famous and well known for his ability to "speak to and for the people" He intentionally wrote as the uneducated folk of his English town spoke.... leading him to be a well known niche in the history of literature. So to QUOTE Chaucer is one thing.... but to speak as Chaucer wrote is very much another meaning all together.

Y’all come on down to South Carolina on tomorrow or any other time and you'll hear it everywhere you go....school announcements made by principals and guidance counselors, superintendents in district wide emails, and all sorts of other places. Why, it stretches every inch of I26 from the NC/SC border all the way to Charleston. There just aint no way of gettin away from it round here.

I started hearing this about 7 years ago, and it has become a huge pet peeve for me. I work with a lot of educators, and I hear it often in meetings and presentations. In fact, the high school guidance counselor at my son's school said it just last night.

Examples include "on tomorrow," "on yesterday," and "on next week." It's like fingernails down a chalk board to me. grin

P.S. I also hear "on accident" (as in, I did it on accident). Where did THAT come from??

I'm an elementary school teacher originally from California. I'd never heard "on" used with "today," "tomorrow," or with "yesterday" before I moved to Houston, Texas, where I live now. I hear it daily, by people from all walks of life. My school's administrators say it during morning and afternoon announcements. It hurts my ears. It bothers me that the kids hear this as a model for "proper" English. But, seriously, how do I bring THAT subject up with an administrator?!

Amy,
I hate to be pedantic, but as a student of Chaucer I can't help putting in my two cents. I don't think it's accurate to say that Chaucer "intentionally wrote as the uneducated folk of his English town spoke." Chaucer lived in London and, though he came from a middle class background, moved in aristocratic and courtly circles (to the point that his granddaughter ended up marrying an earl and then a duke). He did portray some uneducated folk in the Canterbury Tales, but the majority of his work was intended to be refined and elegant and to appeal to the upper classes (that's why some of his major influences were courtly French poets like Machaut and Froissart who were in vogue among English aristocrats). True, the fact that he wrote in English made his work accessible to a more "common" audience, but you have to remember that he was writing in a period when English was gaining authority as a literary language, and in fact Chaucer was regarded by his contemporaries and immediate successors as the poet who had infused English with the elegance and rhetorical stylishness of French or Latin. No one would have considered his writing akin to the speech of the uneducated.

I still wouldn't be caught dead saying "on tomorrow," but not for any reason having to do with Chaucer!

It is not a "Southern thing"; however, it is a Southern African-American thing! I have had three black principals who all use this expression. Many of my black co-workers also use this phrase. It drives me nuts, but doesn't bother me as much as educated African-Americans who say, "Let me ax you a question".

Willie Mead:

I’m more bothered by the phrase “black-educated” than I ever could be by “on tomorrow.”

Nigel, Biz is hearing it correctly. I've lived in the south all my life, and have only heard "on tomorrow" and "on today" used by blacks. I know that may sound stereotypical, but it is the truth. I've never heard anyone of any other race or ethnicity use it. And, I have only heard it used in the southeast.

I am an African American woman and I have heard many people use this phrase from many races. For any of you to agree with the myth that African Americans are the cause and sole carriers of this phrase PROVES that racism is probably worse off than it was 40 years ago. People look for someone to blame when something goes wrong and how convenient is it to say "Oh, the black person did it." I need all of you to get your lives together and look at yourself in the mirror before you judge an entire race.
Also, in regard to the cowards that stated "I didn't want to say it but I agree with the racist comment above me," you should grow and nurture a spine. It will do you some good in life. I live in Memphis, TN now, but I have also lived in Virginia, Georgia and Mississippi. I have spent large amounts of time in the North and vacationed for weeks in Hawaii. Never have I seen such blatant ignorance.

@ as always

Keep adding fuel and fanning the flames and your racism never dies. I believe that observations were being made. One thing communications ought to do is eliminate ignorance. If you think someone is wrong, just say so. Alluding that everyone here is racist is so typical of those who wish racism not to disappear so they can have something to build their lives around.

I am Black and I am from Michigan. Never in my life did I hear on tomorrow, on yesterday, on today, until I moved to Dallas, TX...and I never heard it in Dallas until I started working in education. I see it in professional memos, hear it on the announcements, etc. I worked in several different places in Dallas, but not until I came to a SCHOOL did I hear these words. It drives me up a wall..and no one has really been able to explain to me where it originated from. I am glad I found this site because I had started to think it was a Southern thing, but either those other people migrated from the South, or it is everywhere! I would add that one of my parents was born and educated in Dallas and not once growing up did I heard her, or my father, from Texarkana, utter those words. If they are teaching it in the schools now, they were not teaching it to "Black people only" (as some people here seem to think),in the 60's when they were growing up. I don't know where it started, I just want it to stop!!