Trust: its sound stands for much of what it is.

The trusting and trusted are bound together

by a capricious tether: trus, or truss.

Rust, to perish and crumble: what occurs

to the binding of trusting and trusted

if one fails the other. When the bond’s fast

there is faith, so the stories wrought on trust

relate. She whom I trust also trusts me.

> If you got to be anybody’s sidekick, whom would you want to look out for; whom would you want looking out for you?

Should be ‘who’ not ‘whom’ in this (technically incorrect) phrasing.

I.e., “If you got to be anybody’s sidekick, who would you want to look out for; who would you want looking out for you?”

Of course, this is still incorrect, because the phrases wnd with ‘for’. Fixing the sentence returns the ‘whom’:

“If you got to be anybody’s sidekick, for whom would you want to look out; who would you want looking out for you?”

‘Whom’ is under only after prepositions (‘to’, ‘for’, ‘with’, ‘over’, etc) when the subject is not known.

‘With whom were you?’, ‘To whom was it sent?’, etc. but ‘Who were you with?’ and ‘Who was it sent to?”

Kia ora tātou

WHOM?

Having done a bit of research, I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re dealing with an anachronism, a word that is falling out of use.

Who wants to learn the rule for its usage these days? The fact is, those who know and understand the rule can will tend to be critical of those who do not, who either don’t know the rule or couldn’t care less about it because they never use the word ‘whom’ anyway. Stephen knows the rule.

However, it would seem that ‘who’ is most commonly used where ‘whom’ should be used according to the rule. Fascinating isn’t it?

Another reason I researched this is because I have a thing about my own written verse. Coleridge said, “the best words in the best order”. I’m inclined to agree with him, so I try to make sure I use the best words when I write verse. I’m not always successful.

I am now in a quandary. I used the word ‘whom’ in the verse I submitted against this post. In fact, according to the ‘rule’ it’s correct even if it is not accompanied by a preposition. But on reflection, who cares about the rule today? Stephen obviously does. But is that caring normal? I’d say no (we know you’re not normal Stephen, even if you are correct).

I guess Stephen is saying that if you are going to use the word ‘whom’, make sure you use it correctly.

This conversation has taught me a bit more about language. In future, I will use ‘who’ when I should use ‘whom’ according to the rule, for I’m more likely to be accepted by the majority of people – especially those whom the rule doesn’t apply, for they don’t use it and don’t recognise it anyway.

NOTE: I am not suggesting here that Stephen thought that my use of ‘whom’ was incorrect.

Catchya later

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