word choice - Where my employers/professionals at?


I want to use something like this in a cartoon, animated banner advertisement:



Where my employers at?



or



Where my entrepreneurs at?



Are there connotations of the phrase I should consider, for example is it too slangy or is its use too closely linked with hip hop culture to be acceptable in the business sector?



Answer



Normally, we do not put a preposition at the end of the question when we use the interrogative pronoun "where."


For example,



Where are you going? -- not Where are you going to?


Where did you stay? -- not Where did you stay in?



Compare this with when you change the interrogative pronoun to "what" or "which":



Which restaurant are you going to?


What hotel did you stay in?



*Note: There are of course exceptions to this like when we ask "Where are you from?"



Adding the preposition "at" in the question "*Where are __ at?*" is unnecessary and informal usage. It strongly implies casualness and may thus be inappropriate for a business/ professional setting.


Like what you predicted, some people can also connect it to urban slang and you should consider whether such a thing is undesirable for your advertisement. Take the entire context and your exact purpose into account.


Since the questions are asking about "employers" and "entrepreneurs," personally I interpreted is as coming from a dire need for more employment and self-starting entrepreneurs. That's how the language came across to me. It reminded me of an article from Times magazine.


I don't think everyone will get the same message though, whether it was an accurate interpretation or not.


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