<p>We were walking on campus yesterday and heard a student say into her phone
“Where are you?”</p>
<p>Sound ok? That is because it is!! In MD the accepted phrase is
" Where are you at?"</p>
<p>Drives me up a wall when I hear it. So y’all have an assignment while my son is on campus, get him to drop the dangling participle! I can handle the southern contraction…</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>I live in MD, and that is one of my biggest pet peeves. I’m glad they say it correctly at UA!</p>
<p>And then there’s Hawaii: “Eh brah, where you stay?”</p>
<p>We wouldn’t be caught dead dangling a participle off that. After all, we are in the south. ;)</p>
<p>we kids say “where you at?”</p>
<p>And, in Chicagah/Midwest they ask ‘are you coming with?’, as in: “We are going to the game this weekend. Are you coming with?” Strangest thing…</p>
<p>lol you sound like my Grandmother. She would always answer “right before the at” when someone said that.</p>
<p>Conference Call:</p>
<p>vlines’ DS: " Where are you at, Kimo?"</p>
<p>Kimo: "Wot? Dat one existential question, or wot?</p>
<p>tommykirkpatrick: “No, Kimo. Where you at?”</p>
<p>Kimo: “K, den. Why didn’t you say so? I stay over by da kine.”</p>
<p>aeromom: “Are you coming with?”</p>
<p>Kimo (exasperated): “Huh? Wot? Shoots, you guys don’t know how for talk already.”</p>
<p>casinoexec (invoking lingua franca): “Roll Tide. Capeesh?”</p>
<p>The “Jersey” in me still wants to say where “yous guys” at.</p>
<p>^^^Conference Call (continued)</p>
<p>Sniner (following a long, silent pause): “Enough already! Yous guys heard what casino said. Roll Tide, y’all! Now!”</p>
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<p>In New Orleans this is shortened to: “Where y’at?”</p>
<p>And this is usually answered with: “I’m goin’ by mah mamma n’ems. Where YOU at?”</p>
<p>sigh…</p>
<p>It is technically correct to end a sentence with a preposition or participle, but it is not encouraged. </p>
<p>I find this discussion entertaining as there are many phrases in “Southern English” of questionable grammar.</p>
<p>There is a long thread on CC about the use of ma’am/sir and Mister/Miss Firstname, both of which are common in Southern English.</p>
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<p>However, this does not mean that a preposition can be appended to any sentence. 
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<p>The problem is not that “at” succeeds “you”; “At where are you?” is also wrong. “At” should be omitted altogether. Unlike the OP stated, it’s also not a dangling participle, which involves ambiguous or mis-modification involving participial phrases.</p>
<p>I find these colloquial expressions interesting. They seem largely derived from discomfort with using the proper phrase on the perception that grammaticality somehow connotes excessive formality even when it’s not wordy. Using slang can be a way to establish (or at least communicate the intention for) a more comfortable, open rapport with a listener.</p>
<p>In New York, it’s more like “where the hell are you”. Usual reply might be “shut the f*** up, I’ll be right there”.</p>
<p>Woo hoo!!! The rock star Silver Turtle visited the Bama forum!!!
You are a god among sat takers everywhere!!</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Nothing like starting my day with a few laughs from you all! Yes, I live in PA and I said “you all”, but I am originally from VA, so it is okay. And yes, I said “starting my day”…stayed up till almost 1AM watching the UA girls softball team win their game. Well worth it!</p>
<p>mon2them… Yeah, you right, dawlin. And that’s why an entire species of native New Orleanians are referred to as “yats.”</p>
<p>Who Dat.</p>
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<p>Unless, of course, you’re speaking to your BFF Atley, in which case good old At should remain, with a comma inserted directly thereafter. :)</p>
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<p>Oh dear, this won’t do. We can’t have “involves” and “involving” in the same sentence, nor can we abide “mis-modification,” for it’s not even a word. :)</p>
<p>How about this: Contrary to what the OP stated, the question, “Where are you at?” does not contain a dangling participle, which is defined as a participial phrase that improperly modifies a subject. Dangling participles, which often appear at the beginning of sentences, are examples of what are known as misplaced modifiers. Typically, the subject that the dangling participle should be modifying is missing from the sentence.</p>
<p>Or, in the interest of establishing rapport, “Eh, vlines what for you go say dat? You don’t know one, whatcha call, dangling participle from one whatever da kine you meant for say.” :)</p>
<p>Hi Silverturtle! Did you enjoy your first year in college?</p>
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<p>And my name naturally being Atticus, Atley would respond, “Where I at, At? At, I, At, am at At the Movies with Mr. Ebert.”</p>
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<p>We clearly can have it, though in my more lucid moments I would steer away from it. And in fact, “mis-modification” is a sound construction in which the hyphen indicates that the prefix-noun affixment is nonetheless not yet particularly established in dictionaries. </p>
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<p>Sits mostly alright with me as an elaboration.</p>
<p>^^^Lol. Excellent retort, silverturtle.</p>