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We have a local newscaster who inserts the word "on" into almost every sentence. For example, he might say,"The rain will move on out." The extra preposition grates on me, but I have not been able to find a rule which says that his grammar is incorrect. Is his usage appropriate?

JSBձոգչ
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user59965
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  • "Move on" is a perfectly fine verb, and has been forever. Why would it be ungrammatical? – RegDwigнt Dec 17 '13 at 18:17
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    "The rain will move on out." sounds very colloquial to me. I'd use either move on or move out; I consider move on out a bit redundant and informal. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Dec 17 '13 at 18:30
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    I know what the OP is talking about . . . like the theme song for "The Jeffersons", a 70's era US TV sitcom, "Movin' on up, to the east side...". Moving up to the east side should suffice but it's "Movin(g) on up..." that makes it sound so, I don't know, colloquial? – Kristina Lopez Dec 17 '13 at 18:41
  • "move on out" is perfectly fine, especially when getting paid by the word. Also, it seems to have a different tone/voice, and possibly could in some situations provide a slightly different connotation. – F.E. Dec 17 '13 at 19:25
  • Thanks for the comments. I now understand that this usage is acceptable, though it grates on me. This weatherman uses it dozens of times during each forecast - I gave but a single example. Others might include the rain will move on in, the sun will come on out, the front will rush on through, and the clouds will build on up. – user59965 Dec 18 '13 at 18:04

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You can't find a resource saying that the usage is wrong because the usage isn't wrong.

In the first place, "move on" is a perfectly fine verb, as is "move out". You could regard the usage "move on out" as an instance of either of these, elaborated by an additional adverbial preposition. English is very free with its use of prepositions-as-adverbs, and pile-ups of such adverbs are neither uncommon nor incorrect.

JSBձոգչ
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    Let me step out from behind my tree and tell you the story of a little boy who asked his father, "Daddy, what did you bring that book that I don't want to be read to out of about Down Under up for?" – RegDwigнt Dec 17 '13 at 18:23
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    Cute @RegDwigнt....relevance? :-) – Kristina Lopez Dec 17 '13 at 18:45
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    So can we also claim that 'move out on' isn't wrong? The unsupported views sometimes put forward as gospel are at best tedious. They may contain strands of truth, but often make far too sweeping claims. 'Piling up [particles /] adverbs' usually results in something gruesome. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 17 '13 at 18:58
  • @EdwinAshworth: The expression "move out on" could have a meaning of leave someone, e.g. "She moved out on her boyfriend, so he ended up having to break the lease" or "She will move out on her boyfriend tomorrow". (They have different meanings: "move on out", "move out on".) – F.E. Dec 17 '13 at 19:07
  • @F.E. Yes, but it has to be transitive. I'm just saying that catenating n random particles/adverbs is by no means guaranteed to give an accepted construction. Each string has to be examined individually. 'Carry out on' doesn't license 'carry on out'. And structures differ subtly: 'look up' may be the transitive MWV (he looked up the times of the buses) or the verb + adverb(ial) (when she coughed, he looked up). – Edwin Ashworth Dec 17 '13 at 19:53
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    @KristinaLopez: "Relevance?," you ask? I'm assuming the relevance is the multiplicity--yea, the very ubiquitousness--of prepositions. (Being certain of which I am pretty close to being, said Yoda.) – rhetorician Dec 17 '13 at 23:27
  • @rhetorician, well, THAT was obvious! lol! (I meant relevance to the OP's question which was about a specific preposition) – Kristina Lopez Dec 18 '13 at 00:01
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I empathize with you that linguistic quirks can become irritating if overdone. Piling on of adverbs, especially when it adds nothing to the meaning of the verb, can be distracting.

If he adds on to verbs other than move, he's probably overdoing it. It has been used colloquially with get down (get on down), come down (famously by Bob Barker), come (come on is slang for hurry up), moving up (in a TV theme song for a show about upward mobility). Also, get on out, get on up, jump on in, etc.

Most likely it is a hold over from a time when on meant more than "supported by a surface". Verb + on indicating continuation of a movement or action was (and still is) common, especially in BrE ("Keep calm and carry on"). One can see press on, read on, keep on, talk on, and more.

To my ear, however verb + on + adverb sounds like slang, and I must admit that I think it reflects poorly on the speaker. I cringe a little bit when I hear people command their dogs to come on instead of come when the owner is standing still.

anongoodnurse
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  • Oh, come on! (ha! only kidding Susan - but that's very familiar and have learned, very colloquial, for me!) lol! – Kristina Lopez Dec 17 '13 at 19:41
  • 'Come on' has been used in English since at least 1470 (Malory): "Used to urge a person (or animal) to advance towards or accompany the speaker, or (more generally) to continue or proceed with some action or activity." (OED). – Arm the good guys in America Jun 06 '18 at 03:03