And the Owl Said "Whom"

 I've seen several images like this--and versions of it--on Facebook (even posted a couple myself), and if you search Google (owl whom), you'll find quite a few popping up.

Who and whom used to drive me crazy when I was a young-un. My mother was an English teacher, and her method of correcting me was to repeat my sentence, emphasizing my error in its correct version ... with a question-mark rise at the end of the sentence. Annoying, I confess.

DANNY: Him and me biked down to the ice-cream store today.

MOM: HE and I biked down ...?

DANNY [THINKING, BUT NOT DARING TO UTTER ALOUD]: You did? Didn't see you there.

Later, my older brother began doing this as well, and thus I (unwillingly) learned lots of "correct" English usage without ever knowing why it was correct. So ... in school I got good grades on usage tests by looking at the choices and thinking: "How would Mom say it?"

Not much help when I began teaching English myself and had to learn why in order to explain the reason(s) to my students. 

Anyway, who and whom ...

I know I wrote a post about this some years ago; I don't care; here we go again ...

I didn't understand the difference between the two words (and whoever and whomever) until I was past the age I should have known. I don't remember who taught me this little process long ago, but it works like a charm.

Here's the process:

• Isolate the word with its own clause, ignoring everything else around it (clause below is underlined).
• Give some pizza to (whoever/whomever) wants any.
• Substitute either he or him where the choice lies.
• So the choice becomes He wants any or him wants any.
• And remember this: he = who/whoever; him = whom/whomever.
• So your answer becomes: Give some pizza to whoever wants any.
• Let's try another one ...
• Who/Whom you love the most is the person to who/whom you should be invariably kind.
• He/Him you love the most is the person to he/him you should be most kind.
• Answer: Whom you love the most is the person to whom you should be most kind.

Got it? We'll see in a moment ...

A lot of people, I know, practice what's called hypercorrection, employing, say, a form of a word which they think sounds more correct--but actually isn't.

• Give the tickets to him and I. (No: to him and me.)

So, I hear and sometimes read people saying/writing whom or whomever because they think it's more correct because--I don't know--it's rare?

Okay, here's a little quiz (answers below):

1. Who/Whom guesses the lottery number correctly is very fortunate indeed.
2. To whoever/whomever stole my bike I wish only the worst.
3. I'll save my rage for whoever/whomever beats me in the race.
4. Save the biggest portion for the person who/whom you like best.
5. I don't know who/whom you voted for, but at least you voted.

Of course, we're all aware that usage is changing all the time. "Correct" usages disappear as the "incorrect" one becomes more common and even dominant. At school I had to learn the differences between will and shall; that difference has mostly faded.

Even in the many books I reviewed I began to see, more and more frequently, such sentences as this: He was a better student than me. In my days it was better than I--because, we were taught, the construction was elliptical: better than I [am].

I still use it the "correct" way, but I sometimes feel "elitist" by doing so. Gotta be careful about that these days of polarization.

ANSWERS

1. Who
2. whoever
3. whoever
4. whom
5. who

You got an A+, right?

But I'm not sure that owl did--not until I know what he was trying to say!