stekas@hou2g.UUCP (J.STEKAS) (02/08/84)
The confusion between "who" and "whom" may be the source of much
consternation to self-appointed custodians of the language,
but the confusion is quite understandable from a linguistic
point of view - "who" and "whom" are vestiges of the bygone days
when English was an inflected language. People confuse the two
because they sound alike and because the distinction between nominative
and accusative cases in English is dying. "Whom" will survive for a
while, incorrectly used as a polite affectation (like "thou"), but
it will eventually go the way of the companion to "what".
The same will happen with "I", "me", "my" - it already has to some extent
in, "He is taller than me." English teachers argue for the more "logical"
"He is taller than I." as the shortened form of "He is taller than I am."
Ridiculous! No people on earth are more obnoxious grammarians than the
French, and they say "Il est plus grand que moi." If it's ok with them,
it's ok with "moi"!
The nicest thing about all this is that being a linguistic snob is
its own punishment. All the English teachers in the world can't
save "whom".
More worried about "impacting" than "whom",
Jim