Well, PostOnce is correct that whence DOES mean “from where”.† However, as you point out, sticking from on the front of it is not considered improper usage. If you look, you can find plenty of illustrious sources using “whence” by itself, and plenty more (such as your list) which write “from whence”. Both forms are fine.
†OED: (1) “From what place?”. (2) “gen. and transf. From what source, origin, or cause?” (3) “From which place; from or out of which.” (3b) “as compound relative: From the place in which, from where.” (4) “gen. and transf. From which source or origin (as a product); from which cause (as a result); from which fact or circumstance (as an inference).” (5) “as n. (nonce-use.) That from which something comes or arises; place of origin; source.”
I can think of no other plausible reason for PostOnce's comment than that s/he wanted to suggest that saying "from whence" is an error.
I suppose it's barely possible that the meaning was simply "you don't have to include the 'from' when you're saying 'whence', so you could have saved yourself a bit of typing", but that seems improbable.
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Well, PostOnce is correct that whence DOES mean “from where”.† However, as you point out, sticking from on the front of it is not considered improper usage. If you look, you can find plenty of illustrious sources using “whence” by itself, and plenty more (such as your list) which write “from whence”. Both forms are fine.
†OED: (1) “From what place?”. (2) “gen. and transf. From what source, origin, or cause?” (3) “From which place; from or out of which.” (3b) “as compound relative: From the place in which, from where.” (4) “gen. and transf. From which source or origin (as a product); from which cause (as a result); from which fact or circumstance (as an inference).” (5) “as n. (nonce-use.) That from which something comes or arises; place of origin; source.”
I can think of no other plausible reason for PostOnce's comment than that s/he wanted to suggest that saying "from whence" is an error.
I suppose it's barely possible that the meaning was simply "you don't have to include the 'from' when you're saying 'whence', so you could have saved yourself a bit of typing", but that seems improbable.
That’s true. Just, while we’re being pedants here, I wanted to point out that PostOnce’s statement was accurate, taken literally.
Aren't we all improbable people on HN?