Come

[konungursvia]

By analogy with French, from which we picked up half our vocabulary and a number of grammatical structures, I'd say "come" is a past participle acting as a preposition by virtue of its being usable as an adjective. I find the example awkward, but not incorrect.

"Come winter, we'll be feeling very cold in Canada." = Once winter has come...

This is to be differentiated from "Come what may," where it seems the word is an imperative, daring fate to deliver whatever it wants.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by konungursvia

by analogy with french, from which we picked up half our vocabulary and a number of grammatical structures, i'd say "come" is a past participle acting as a preposition by virtue of its being usable as an adjective. I find the example awkward, but not incorrect.

i agree.

"come winter, we'll be feeling very cold in canada." = once winter has come...

yes, i think when it refers to the future like this it isn't a problem for most people. But in the original example, it referred to the past.
come time to board the ship, we were excited ..."

this is to be differentiated from "come what may," where it seems the word is an imperative, daring fate to deliver whatever it wants.

r.

[konungursvia]

It is strange, but only in the way the past-tense "now" is. I think it sounds odd in the past, but I feel it doesn't lose its logic or technical correctness.

"Winter had now come, so they were feeling cold."