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Pructus Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Moby_Dick

The devil fetch that harpooneer, thought I, but stop, couldn't I steal a march on him- bolt his door inside, and jump into his bed, not to be wakened by the most violent knockings? It seemed no bad idea but upon second thoughts I dismissed it. For who could tell but what the next morning, so soon as I popped out of the room, the harpooneer might be standing in the entry, all ready to knock me down!

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Hi,

Above is from "Moby Dick".

The structure of the underlined part is so difficult.

Why "what" is used here?

Anyone to enlighten me???
  

Top answer

Some people - typically country folk - use "what" in place of "that".

— Anonymous

  • Some people - typically country folk - use "what" in place of "that".
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4 Answers
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Some people - typically country folk - use "what" in place of "that".
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I was intrigued by your question. I had never come across this usage of "but what", although I could understand the meaning of the sentence.

I have found the explanation at the definition of what in the first dictionary I've looked into where you get an example precisely with "but what".

http://www.the
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For who could tell but what ... the harpooneer might be standing in the entry, all ready to knock me down!

This is not a common idiom these days. It has mostly fallen out of use. It is a rhetorical question used to introduce an imagined possibility of what might happen.

The initial 'for' means 'because' and is not part of the idiom.
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I see, I see....

Many thanks to CJ and licinio!!
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