Arnold Zwicky's Blog

postings on the choice between Nom and Acc (e.g., I and me) in English, including who vs. whom, the case of conjoined objects, the case of subjects in embedded clauses (ISOC and ESOC), the case of pronouns following items like as, beside(s), but, including, like, than, case in inversion constructions, case in predicatives, case in fragment constructions (short answers to questions, etc.), and more.

listed postings are mostly on this blog, with a few from Language Log, where attention has focused mostly on who(m) and NomConjObj (Nom Conjoined Objects); LLog postings on these two topics have already been inventoried in postings asterisked in the list below.

not systematically covered here, but clearly related: uses of the possessive (Poss), e.g. my, and reflexives (Refl), e.g. myself.

…..

AZ, 12/28/04: Here comes the accusative:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001762.html]
AccSubj deictic in inverted order:”here comes me”; free-standing Acc in answers to questions etc. (even when understood as subjects); subjects like poor me

AZ, 8/7/05: Just between Dr. Language and I:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002386.html]
Dr. Language reporting on NomConjObj as a spreading virus, with hypercorrection story

GP, 12/19/06: Does Julia Gillard know subjects from objects?
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003937.html]
NomConjObj from Julia Gillard, and raving responses to it

AZ, 1/23/07: Whom shall I say [ ___ is calling ]?:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004084.html]
ISOC and ESOC

AZ, 6/18/07: ISOC, ESOC:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004616.html]
ISOC and ESOC might now be the primary islands of whom use in modern written English, outside of the mainland of P + whom

AZ, 10/12/08: Coordinate possessives:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=706]
on possessives, rather than Nom and Acc, but with the idea of gaps in the grammar:
There is, in a very real sense, a gap in your (internal) grammar, which you have to cope with by patching, as best as you can. [The idea goes back to a suggestion of Chuck Fillmore’s many years ago]

6/13/09: Sotomayoral NomConjObj:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/06/23/sotomayoral-nomconjobj/]

8/30/09: In the NYT:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/08/30/in-the-nyt/]
prescriptively correct but odd whom

*11/15/09: Inventory of who/whom postings:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/11/15/inventory-of-whowhom-postings/]
inventory of postings on LLog

*2/25/10: NomConjObjs:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2010/02/25/nomconjobs/]
brief summary of the topic, bibliography, and list of blog postings to date

8/3/10: Snarled-up ESOC on the op-ed page:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2010/08/03/snarled-up-esoc-on-the-op-ed-page/]

3/1/11: Object whom:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/03/01/object-whom/]
jarring in informal style

3/14/11: as far as us is concerned:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/03/14/as-far-as-us-is-concerned/]
and as far as Acc goes

4/25/11: The siren song of whom:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/04/25/the-siren-song-of-whom/]
on Sluicing; style

7/19/11: Annals of ISOC:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/07/19/annals-of-isoc/]

8/18/11: More notional-subject NomConjObj:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/08/18/more-notional-subject-nomconjobs/]

8/21/11: Haefeli on NomConjObjs:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/08/21/haefeli-on-nomconjobjs/]
rise of NomConjObj

10/2/11: Unprovoked subject whom:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/10/02/unprovoked-subject-whom/]

GP, Lingua Franca column, 1/18/12:Normal and formal:
[http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2012/01/18/normal-and-formal/]
elevated style of whom

1/23/12: Dinosaur grammar:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/01/23/dinosaur-grammar/]
than as preposition (Lowth), conjunction (Priestly), or both (Ward)

1/24/12: Accusative subject:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/01/24/accusative-subject/]
me + an appositive; me + a loose modifier (for one, however, too)

3/23/12: The perils of advice:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/03/23/the-perils-of-advice/]
case with including

4/18/12: Who(m) to V:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/04/18/whom-to-v/]
on to-infinitival interrogatives, with a mention of WH echo / reclamatory questions; style

5/4/12: Idiolect or style level?:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/04/idiolect-or-style-level/]
for NomConjObj: I think both

5/12/12: Quant of whom:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/12/quant-of-whom/]
on Quantifier + of whom relatives; style

5/14/12: Another informal WH construction:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/14/another-informal-wh-construction/]
on exclamatory interrogatives, including with who; style

5/16/12: like you and I:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/16/like-you-and-i/]
(a) pronoun case in combinations with like (and as, beside(s), including, and than); and
(b) pronoun case in coordination

5/17/12: Nominative intensified objects:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/17/nominative-intensified-objects/]
“for she herself”

5/20/12: That’s WH!:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/20/thats-wh/]
on the X, that’s WH! (including who) construction in answers to questions; style

5/23/12: Pronoun case double header:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/23/pronoun-case-double-header/]
ISOC; NomConjObj

5/25/12: The power of lore and dogma:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/25/the-power-of-lore-and-dogma/]
NomPrepObj in “Shocking? For who?”, concordant with informal style

6/15/12: look at who them was:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/06/15/look-at-who-them-was/]
AccPred us and them serving as in effect proper names, hence the default verb agreement with subject them

7/17/12: Unprovoked subject whomever:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/17/unprovoked-subject-whomever/]

7/20/12: with whom:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/20/with-whom/]
stylistic clash

7/21/12: The Pogo files:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/21/the-pogo-files/]
AccPred in “We have met the enemy and he is us”

7/27/12: On the NomConjObj:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/27/on-the-nomconjobj-watch/]
3sg pronoun in the first conjunct, in a direct object that’s the notional subject of an infinitive

8/11/12: Grammar Dalek:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/08/11/grammar-dalek/]
cartoon on who/whom

8/30/12: NomConjObj on the campaign trail:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/08/30/nomconjobj-on-the-campaign-trail/]
Mitt Romney example

9/7/12: More perils of advice:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/09/07/more-perils-of-advice/]
“the operation is much bigger than he”

10/13/12: Brief mention: equal time for NomConjObjs:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/10/13/brief-mention-equal-time-for-nomconjobjs/]
Joe Biden on the campaign trail

2/20/13: NomPrepObj:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/02/20/nomprepobj/]
Nom object of the P but

5/12/13: How ‘bout them Cubbies?:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/05/12/how-bout-them-cubbies/]
no-standard (but extremely widespread) determiner them

1/14/14: Knock knock:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/01/14/knock-knock/]
cartoon who/whom humor

2/24/14: More Recency Illusion:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/02/24/more-recency-illusion/]
self-proclaimed grammar and usage authority maintaining that NomConjObj appeared 10 or 15 years ago, and ignorant of the literature

3/4/14: The classic owl joke:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/03/04/the-classic-owl-joke/]
Sandra Boynton cartoon: owl that says whom

11/10/14: Monday quartet:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/11/10/monday-quartet-2/]
#3: Rhymes on case-marking with than

12/22/14: NomConjObj from Jack Straw, in writing:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/12/22/nomconjobj-from-jack-straw-in-writing/]

2/4/15: Sunday NomConjObj:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/02/04/sunday-nomconjobj/]
in NYT Sunday Review

2/5/15: McCosh on NomPred:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/02/05/mccosh-on-nompred/]
Princeton’s James McCosh, back in the 19th century, with It’s me; brief discussion of the facts about case marking in predicatives

2/21/15: Rowling’s ESOC:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/02/21/rowlings-esoc/]

3/19/15: whom from long ago:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/03/19/whom-from-long-ago/]
from 1937, in a decidedly informal context

5/21/15: Conjunction or preposition?:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/05/21/conjunction-or-preposition/]
than she/her

9/12/15: A sad editing moment at the New York Times:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/09/12/a-sad-editing-moment-at-the-new-york-times/]
including she

11/4/15: On the who/whom front, and AZ terminology:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/11/04/on-the-whowhom-front-and-az-terminology/]
whom as an extracted object: prescriptively correct, but I find it stiff, over-formal (even prissy), and old-fashioned

2/27/16: A new Page, on I vs. me, etc.:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/02/27/a-new-page-on-i-vs-me-etc/]
announcement of this page, with an expanded description of it

4/12/16: Case choice by rhyme; non-standard case systems:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/04/12/case-choice-by-rhyme-non-standard-case-systems/]
2005 discussion from ADS-L

Conner & Kramer, Grammarphobia blog, 6/3/16: Why “lucky me,” not “lucky I”?:
[https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2016/06/lucky-me.html]

7/15/16: A medal for pronoun case:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/07/15/a-medal-for-pronoun-case/]
Tyler Lemon undergraduate honors thesis on pronoun case (outside of coordination)

7/27/16: Pronoun case in the Thames Valley CID:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/07/27/pronoun-case-in-the-thames-valley-cid/]
factors in the choice of case in an exchange from Inspector Morse

12/2/16: Helping the kid out:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/02/helping-the-kid-out/]
me and my friends/teammates

12/13/16: Three from xkcd:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/13/three-from-xkcd/]
#3 “It Was I”

8/24/17: Annals of NomConjObj: Miss Adelaide:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/08/24/annals-of-nomconjobj-miss-adelaide/]
example from Guys and Doll

10/9/17: The perils of parallelism:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/10/09/the-perils-of-parallelism/]
extraordinary whom example

10/18/17: whom were never officially honored:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/10/18/whom-were-never-officially-honored/]
unprovoked subject whom resultng from confusion of syntactic functions and participant roles

1/5/18: Usage note: NomPred:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/01/05/usage-note-nompred/]
it was just he and mother in the NYT

1/6/18: But that’s not I nor you:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/01/06/but-thats-not-i-nor-you/]
this usage in a 19th-century didactic verse for children; piss-elegant pronouns

6/9/18: whom can be pardoned:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/06/09/whom-can-be-pardoned/]
ISOC examples from Ted Cruz

2/22/19: In the land of supertitles:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/02/22/in-the-land-of-supertitles/
AccConjSubj in #1

4/30/19: NomConjObj in the New Yorker:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/04/30/nomconjobj-in-the-new-yorker/]
apparently the first non-quoted NomConjObj in the pages of the magazine, from a young (late 30s) staff writer

11/12/19: Comedic NomConjObj:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/11/12/comedic-nomconjobj/]
NomConjObj as the default, now standard, variant among a population of young educated Americans, as evidenced in usage by, and corrections by, young characters in tv sitcoms