No End and To No End

No End and To No End No End and To No End No End and To No End By Maeve Maddox A reader corrected my usage in the following extract from a previous post: Suggesting that one form of speech is preferable to another, however, can annoy people no end. The reader corrected this passage by inserting a to in front of â€Å"no end† Suggesting that one form of speech is preferable to another, however, can annoy people to no end. As I usually do, I assumed that the reader was right and I was wrong, so I launched into my usual double-checking routine: OED, Merriam-Webster, Chicago, etc. I found my use of the expression mirrored in this citation in Merriam-Webster: As they sailed further and further into the south, it got warmer and warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee, and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun no end.- Hugh Lofting, Dr. Doolittle, 1920. Although the online unabridged OED still labels the adverbial use of â€Å"no end† as â€Å"modern slang,† the citations are not particularly modern: 1912 Chamberss Jrnl. Dec. 769/1: ‘I really must show this to Champneys,’ thought Michael; ‘it will please him no end.’ 1955 Essays Studies 8 5: A few clean strokes of Occams razor would have helped Mr. Jackson no end. 1958 H. Babcock I dont want to shoot Elephant 8: I often walk fifteen miles a day while huntingThis puzzles my wife no end. 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 90/2: Thomas had been impressed no end by the sight of Klà ¼verfixing an art-and-technology malfunction with a pair of pliers. The Oxford Dictionaries site defines â€Å"no end† as â€Å"to a great extent; very much† and gives this example: â€Å"This cheered me up no end.† The debate surrounding â€Å"to no end† vs â€Å"no end† presents an idiomatic collision similar to that between â€Å"couldn’t care less† and â€Å"could care less.† The Web teems with heated attacks on the to-less version, yet millions of native English-speakers use it to mean the same thing as the one with to. Here are some declarations I found in language forums on the Web from people who prefer â€Å"to no end†: Dictionary or not, the  grammar  of [no end] is very manifestly lacking. It [no end] doesnt sound right to me, it sounds like you missed a word. This Amuses me no end  just sounds silly. I found some objections to â€Å"no end† that were stated even more strongly, but I don’t use that kind of language in my posts. â€Å"No end† has its supporters: [No end] is an idiom. It is very common in most of the English-speaking world. The fact you havent come across it doesnt make it wrong.   Sounds fine to me. Its pretty common where Im from (south-east England). Some supporters of â€Å"no end† argue that â€Å"to no end† means something else entirely: To do something â€Å"to no end† commonly means â€Å"without purpose† or â€Å"in vain.† For example, â€Å"He gave her the roses to no particular end.† That’s the only meaning I can hear when reading a statement like â€Å"This amuses me to no end.† This argument is plausible but old-fashioned. Modern speakers are more likely to use â€Å"in vain† or â€Å"no use† when that’s the intended meaning: He gave her the roses, but it was no use. She still refused to date him. Her father pleaded with her to accept the suitor, but his pleas were in vain. I conclude the following: Either form may be used with the meaning â€Å"to a great extent† in colloquial English. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.41 Words That Are Better Than GoodWhen Is a Question Not a Question?