Pages

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Over at Andy's Residual Forces: "Whom do the Democrats fear?"

A "Dear Delegate" letter from Team Thompson.

Seems I recall, "who" is the subjective form; "Who paid off the politician," being an example.

"Whom" is the objective form; "The bribe was given to whom," being an example.

Really. Don't Team Thompson have proof readers?

Or is it, doesn't team thompson have proof readers?

Team is singular, but it's The Thompson guy and the Benson woman, so, doesn't either of them have a proof reader?

End of the item, from "Dave." So don't blame Benson.

_____________UPDATE____________
Well, thinking about it a bit more. What sounds right? "Whom do the Democrats fear," seems, on reflecting back years to ninth grade grammar, the proper form. Democrats is the subject, as in, "The Democrats fear whom?"

Still, "Who do you trust," sounds right, more so than "Whom do you trust."

I think the language is evolving, and whom will become an obsolete usage, kept alive only by conservatives. True conservatives. So, then, is the currently proper grammatical form, "The true conservatives are whom?" The verb "to be" does not take an object, yet it sounds awkward, "Whom are the true conservatives?" Would you say, "Whom is the third batter in the lineup?" I bet ten out of ten major league managers would say, "Who is the third batter in the lineup?"

The language is evolving.