[lit-ideas] Re: Anonymity and revelation...
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:42:46 -0800
Ursula Stange wrote:
If you write, "I confess, it was...(him or he?)
I was taught (but not by nuns) that if 'him' would be correct, then 'me'
is correct.
Right. The question is, is 'him' correct?
If 'he' is correct, then "I' would be correct.
If you're pointing across the school yard fingering an accomplice,
wouldn't you say, "It was him"?
If yes, then "It was me" would also be correct, no?
'The interrogative who is often used for whom, as, Who did you see? A
distinction should here be made between conversation, written or spoken,
and formal writing. Many educated people feel that in saying It is I,
Whom do you mean? instead of It's me, Who do you mean? they will be
talking like a book, and they justifiably prefer geniality to grammar.
But in print, unless it is dialogue, the correct forms are advisable.'
[H. W. Fowler, The King's English, 1908]
http://www.bartleby.com/116/201.html
Robert Paul
talking like a book at
Reed College
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