Comments on: The Girl Whom You Think Lives Here Has Left, Or, How Fast Does Language Change? http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/ Introducing brilliant authors to the blogosphere. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:43:07 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Everyone Read It! » Blog Archive » Monthly Gleanings: September 2009 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-153752 Everyone Read It! » Blog Archive » Monthly Gleanings: September 2009 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:23:28 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-153752 [...] questions over and over again. Let me refer our correspondents to this blog for some information on who versus whom, kitty/catty corner, and hunky-dory (separate posts were devoted to them). With regards to [...] [...] questions over and over again. Let me refer our correspondents to this blog for some information on who versus whom, kitty/catty corner, and hunky-dory (separate posts were devoted to them). With regards to [...]

]]> By: Monthly Gleanings: September 2009 : OUPblog http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-153718 Monthly Gleanings: September 2009 : OUPblog Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:11:14 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-153718 [...] questions over and over again. Let me refer our correspondents to this blog for some information on who versus whom, kitty/catty corner, and hunky-dory (separate posts were devoted to them). With regards to [...] [...] questions over and over again. Let me refer our correspondents to this blog for some information on who versus whom, kitty/catty corner, and hunky-dory (separate posts were devoted to them). With regards to [...]

]]> By: Dave S. http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-51523 Dave S. Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:29:18 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-51523 Excuse me for being dense. You write: "In the girl whom you think lives here has left, think overshadows the girl, the subject of the sentence." I don't understand what you're saying. Is not, 'The girl WHO you think lives here has left' the correct usage? 'The girl has left' is the main clause of the sentence. 'Who you think lives here' is a phrase modifying the subject, 'girl.' Within that phrase, 'you think' is essentially an aside, explaining that 'you' may not be fully aware of the place the girl may or may not live. This leaves as the essence of the modifying phrase: 'who lives here.' Please correct me and explain the proper reasoning if this is not correct. Excuse me for being dense. You write: “In the girl whom you think lives here has left, think overshadows the girl, the subject of the sentence.” I don’t understand what you’re saying.

Is not, ‘The girl WHO you think lives here has left’ the correct usage? ‘The girl has left’ is the main clause of the sentence. ‘Who you think lives here’ is a phrase modifying the subject, ‘girl.’ Within that phrase, ‘you think’ is essentially an aside, explaining that ‘you’ may not be fully aware of the place the girl may or may not live. This leaves as the essence of the modifying phrase: ‘who lives here.’

Please correct me and explain the proper reasoning if this is not correct.

]]> By: Walter Turner http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-47803 Walter Turner Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:05:50 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-47803 Mr. Liberman, you write “…blessed are those who speak as birds sing, for theirs is the future. We may not want to be part of it, and we won’t.” But we are part of it. Anyone lucky enough to grow old must believe every day that he was the last person to listen in English class. Mr. Liberman, you write
“…blessed are those who speak as birds sing, for theirs is the future. We may not want to be part of it, and we won’t.”
But we are part of it. Anyone lucky enough to grow old must believe every day that he was the last person to listen in English class.

]]> By: Derek http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-40209 Derek Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:52:31 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-40209 Now wait a minute. "One in four adults say that they read no books at all in the past year…." sounds to me more like the writer was using "they" as an ungendered singular pronoun, not a collective linked to "four." This isn't universally accepted as correct, either, but it seems like you are forcing your data to match your argument in that case. Now wait a minute. “One in four adults say that they read no books at all in the past year….” sounds to me more like the writer was using “they” as an ungendered singular pronoun, not a collective linked to “four.” This isn’t universally accepted as correct, either, but it seems like you are forcing your data to match your argument in that case.

]]> By: John Cowan http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/comment-page-1/#comment-40158 John Cowan Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:02:59 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/whom/#comment-40158 Alas, your example is not at all about "agreement with the nearest noun or pronoun". <i>One in four adults</i> is an idiom meaning "one out of every four adults", that is, one-fourth of all adults. A plural form is entirely correct after it. If you had seen <i>One out of the four adults are</i>, the complaint would have been in order, and indeed Google quickly provides me with <i>One out of the four teacher questions are answered correctly</i>, which is unquestionably ungrammatical. As for singular <i>they</i>, it has been established usage for centuries in indefinite contexts like this one. I do think "Whom did you see?" sounds pedantic in 2007, though it might not have in 1921. Lastly, your title is a fine example of what James Thurber called "the <i>whom</i> of hauteur", as in <i>Whom is calling, please?</i> Alas, your example is not at all about “agreement with the nearest noun or pronoun”. One in four adults is an idiom meaning “one out of every four adults”, that is, one-fourth of all adults. A plural form is entirely correct after it. If you had seen One out of the four adults are, the complaint would have been in order, and indeed Google quickly provides me with One out of the four teacher questions are answered correctly, which is unquestionably ungrammatical.

As for singular they, it has been established usage for centuries in indefinite contexts like this one.

I do think “Whom did you see?” sounds pedantic in 2007, though it might not have in 1921.

Lastly, your title is a fine example of what James Thurber called “the whom of hauteur”, as in Whom is calling, please?

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