WHOM, WHOM!
Posted on 04/30/2003 6:15:29 PM PDT by bannie
In a recent thread, we discussed teachers' various abilities/inabilities. With the banter about math "blocks," I had to start calling people on the frequent mis-usage of the pronoun "that."
I teased others--and I hope the understood my playful intent! Even true mathematicians can make simple mistakes in math. Likewise, even true grammarians can make simple mistakes in grammar. I only made note because of the subject of the thread (An English teacher who was having trouble passing a required math test).
In the thread, I mentioned that I could give a quick-fix lesson on how to determine whether one should use the pronoun "who" or the pronoun "whom."
The Rule:
WHO = SUBJECTIVE
WHOM = OBJECTIVE
or...
While "who" holds the grammatical position of a SUBJECT, "whom" holds the grammatical position of an OBJECT.
Subject = the "doer." Object = the DIRECT OBJECT or the INDIRECT OBJECT or the OBJECT of a preposition...the "do-ee."
THE TRICK:
IF replacing the who/whom in question with HE--simply because it SOUNDS BETTER--use WHO.
IF replacing the who/whom in question with HIM--simply because it SOUNDS BETTER--use WHOM.
IE:
With the question:
To who/whom should I give the "Offed by a Clinton" Award?
Try replacing the space with each, "he" and "him."
Although it's not totally "sensical," the better sounding choice is...
To HIM should I give...
(more clearly, Should I give the "Offed by a Clinton" award to HIM?
SOOOOOooooo...since "HIM" = "WHOM,"
the correct "who/whom-ness" of the question should be:
To WHOM should I give...?
IE:
Who/Whom was the oldest goat in the pool?
Try replacing the space with each, "he" and "him."
It makes much more sense to the ear to replace the who/whom with:
He was the oldest...
than with:
Him was the oldest...
SOOOOOoooooo....since "HE" = "WHO"...
The answer is...WHO was the oldest goat in the pool?
This reminds me of an episode of Designing Women. Delta Burke greeted a snobby northern socialite by drawling, "So where are ya'll from?" The woman icily replied, "I am from where one does not end a sentence with a preposition!". Delta never dropped the southern smile, and declared graciously, "I am so sorry, what I meant to say was, where are ya'll from BITCH!"
hence=from this place
thence=from that place
whence=from what place
and just for good measure--
whither=to what place
thither=to that place
hither=to this place
They're hard to keep track of without some mnemonic device. Any takers?
"There are a lot" or "There is a lot"?
===============
Hummmm.....Let's see:
There are a lot of ducks in the pond.
There is a lot of milk on the floor.
flatulence=from some place
Of course that is PC bullshirt. But I have known of cases of people who purposely used the incorrect wording to keep from using the correct "he".
Susan can't tell Oscar has a hard on always.
S = O / H
C = A / H
T = O / A
WHOM, WHOM!
And the reporters don't like him. They keep saying things like, "...but fortunately noone was hurt."
Ah, yes. That goes with "All cows eat grass"
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