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Adaydreambeliever

For whom does the bell toll?

I did a little browsing around on the subject of grammar and language usage.  I know that the word, 'whom' is used much less now in the UK. Most people just say, 'who'. I've noticed, 'whom' used a fair bit on here. Is it still widely used in some countries? Subtle difference. 

Posted - June 4, 2018
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Responses


  • 2658
    Ding dong - To whom it may concern.  (whomever/whoever/who) This post was edited by Beans/SilentGeneration at June 4, 2018 6:32 PM MDT
      June 4, 2018 2:56 PM MDT
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  • 6477
    Oh, I had entirely forgotten about whomever - now that's a whole new minefield :P
      June 4, 2018 3:25 PM MDT
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  • 2658
      June 4, 2018 3:31 PM MDT
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  • 13071
    My grandson. ;)
      June 4, 2018 2:58 PM MDT
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  • 6477
    Very cute and yea I agree.. what really matters in life is kids, family, friends.
      June 4, 2018 3:24 PM MDT
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  • 10468

    Laziness is not a reason to use improper grammar.  People in all countries are smashing together words or shortening them because it's easier to text them and/or it's too much trouble to say them (e.g. 'dis' instead of 'disrespect'; ‘tru dat’ instead of 'I agree’).  Sadly, this type of slang is used so frequently that people assume they're actual words’ many even winding up in the dictionary.



                                                                                         For Whom the Bell Tolls

     “No word is immune to mutilation; every word is vulnerable to be stripped of its dignity, to become but slang. When any word is befouled by the lips, all language is the less for it.  For that word shall soon die, to be heard never again; neither by thy grandson nor by your grandson’s son.  It will be forever resigned to the trash heap of antiquity; discarded and forgotten.  Any word's death diminishes us all, because we all speak with words, and therefore communicate with each other.  Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for proper grammar.”

      June 4, 2018 4:14 PM MDT
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  • 6477
    Interesting perspective there and thank you for sharing your thoughts. One of my personal pet hates is the word, 'Chu' - it makes me cringe. I agree that many new words are being incorporated into dictionaries now - I find that quite interesting and I am not sure how I feel about it.  I guess it's progress and perhaps we have to accept that language does, and always has, evolved. I mean we no longer go around saying, 'Good day to thee my fine fellow' - that kind of language is of the past and would feel unnatural now.  

    I think I have mixed feelings on this.. I often lament the loss of old, rather cool and quaint words, I also lament, what I see as a reduction in the variety and vocabulary - but perhaps I am just old and stuck in my ways; perhaps this is progress and happens every generation.  My daughter seems to talk an entirely different language, 'sketch' apparently means, 'Sketchy' as in untrustworthy. .Some of it seems laziness to me - some I think just natural evolution. I have very mixed feelings on grammar - my generation was never taught it as they believed content and creativity were more important. Someone else can correct the grammar, dot the i's and cross the t's but not anyone can use language that makes the heart soar and inspire for generations to come... 

    I think too that the problem with grammar is that some of it is arbitrary and part of it IS creative - sometimes there are no hard and fast rules and there are also variations..  

    I think in the case of who and whom - it's more a simplification which leaves the original intent and meaning intact :)
      June 5, 2018 2:01 AM MDT
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  • 44231
    Languages evolve slowly over time. We would have difficulty understanding 500 year old English, just as our modern version would be gibberish for them. And ours will be gibberish to people 500 years from now. It is the slow changes over ones lifetime that irk people.
      June 4, 2018 6:39 PM MDT
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  • 6477
    Exactly, precisely :)
      June 5, 2018 2:02 AM MDT
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  • I think "whom" is still the correct referent for someone who is the object of a verb in published writing 

    but is frequently used either incorrectly or not at all in colloquial speech.


    This suggests that "whom" is slowly dying out of our language.
      June 4, 2018 10:06 PM MDT
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  • 6477
    Yes, exactly - it's correct but is increasingly dying out
      June 5, 2018 2:03 AM MDT
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