Meet The Objective Case

[gnomi]

I keep having to correct this, so I'm putting it here instead of stabbing my Purple Pen of Doom through my lovely 22" flat-screen monitor.

The Subjective Case

-- A penguin rang the doorbell.

-- Bob asked me who rang the doorbell.

The Objective Case

-- I gave a herring to the penguin.
-- It was the penguin to whom I gave the fish.

Remember (reposting a joke I first posted in January 2008):

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Objective case.

Objective case who?

*No*! Objective case "whom"!

Comments

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

O.O

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

And that facial expression is in response to what? The fact that I care about the objective case? The fact that I post about it? The fact that I have a 22" flat-screen monitor on my desk? The example sentences? Or the knock-knock joke?

Curious Nomis are curious.

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

to . . . to . . .you included "p*****n" in your examples. **shudder**

[diannefox.livejournal.com]

My trick that I keep telling people is this: If "he" fits, use "who." If "him" fits, use "whom."

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yup. Exactly. But people don't always get *that* right, either (which I just don't understand. "Me and him are going to the store" is a sentence I've heard more than I'd like to ponder).

[diannefox.livejournal.com]

Oh. Oh, man. That would make me cry.

And just when I think I've seen every possible craptastic grammar or punctuation mistake possible, in my proofreading, too. (Not that I don't make mistakes in my own writing. Lay/lie STILL doesn't come naturally to me, and I have to look it up every time.)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Lay vs. lie (http://gnomi.livejournal.com/417038.html) is one that bites a lot of people.

[diannefox.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Yes. I actually have the verb conjugation for both words on a sticky note on my desktop so I can refer to it as necessary. I think, at this point, it's more that I'm so used to not knowing it that I don't trust myself to have learned it, and so I keep checking. I'm sure eventually that'll wear down.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

There are things I have to always look up (the spelling of "egregious" used to be one of those things). I always take it as proof that the world needs people to write dictionaries and style guides.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

"Me and him" makes me insane. lol

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

It is crazy-making, indeed.

[cellio]

My sister does this routinely. I am mystified by the fact that two siblings close in age with comparable education, neither one stupid, developed so differently linguistically.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Objective case "whom"! I'll have to remember that!

You should repost this in cranky_editors!

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Nice userpic!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I believe I posted it there when I originally posted it here in January 2008.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Well illustrated!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Language Log had a rant on this yesterday or the day before.

My favorite riff on this is by Alan Abelson: For years, they've told us it's not what you know, it's who you know. They're wrong. It's whom you know.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit behind on LL, alas.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

This is the relevant post: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1353

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[gingicat]

Well said.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I've heard that one should just dispense with "whom" altogether.

I disagree, partially. I think that only people who don't know how to use "whom" correctly should cease [ab]using the word in question.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I fight for keeping "whom" in everyday use. I agree, however, that people should stop abusing it.

[madfilkentist]

Nominative case: The judge was appointed to the bench.
Dative case: The judge's behavior with women raised concerns.
Genitive case: The women came to the judge "in his chambers."
Accusative case: The media denounced the judge.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

Here's where I admit that I know the rule, but can never remember what it's called. ;-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

That's OK. It's not like anyone's going to wake you in the middle of the night and ask you for an example of the objective case. :-)

[fauxklore]

A friend of mine has t-shirt which reads, "I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned you."

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I love it!

[cellio]

I once heard an allegedly-true story about a phone call that went something like this:

A (answering phone): Hello, $company.
B: Um, who is this?
A: To whom do you wish to speak?
B: Did you just say "whom"?
A: Yes.
B: I'm sorry; I have a wrong number.

(Tangentially, I've had the caller ask me who this is several times in recent months. My answer is always "you called me; you go first".)