quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

It's sad that our newspaper here in Baltimore is actually renowned for its spelling and grammar errors. You would think the paper is written by 5th graders because it's so atrocious.

I mean it's a newspaper. You would think that anyone in the business of writing, copywriting and editing could take the time to fix their errors.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes

In general, "who" for "whom" and vice-versa.  As in the OP, there's a simple substitution that clears up which to use:  "I'm going to pick whoever I want to."  WRONG ! ! !  One wouldn't say "I'm picking he," but rather, "I'm picking him."  Thus, the m in him, says "use 'whomever'."   Correcting this particular peeve is a losing - actually lost - battle. Whomever cares anymore has given up.  (That's a JOKE, folks.  A joke! "He cares" vs. "Him cares.")

"It is a poor man who can spell a word but a single way"

Andrew Jackson.  http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1838
Thanks DarkSteven for the reference

quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

Thanks for that tip - genuinely!

But re your second point,

Yes. I have to say that the people I've come across who've been most into grammar and spelling I've considered to be, shall we say, 'of the secretarial class'. They could proof-read a book or a play, but never write one. They've also had personalities that have been shot through with authoritarianism (per T W Adorno) and have shown some fundamental love, or even need, for an 'ultimate authority'.

Thus, for them, no sentence must *ever* start with an 'And'. It doesn't matter that hundreds of the greatest writers ever, including Shakespeare, frequently started sentences with 'And'. It's as though, to them, the nameless, unlamented grammarians who put all the rules together in the past are more important than those great writers. Said great writers 'broke the rules', and that is that. Rules, after all, aren't made by people - they come from God Himself.

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

Thus, for them, no sentence must *ever* start with an 'And'. It doesn't matter that hundreds of the greatest writers ever, including Shakespeare, frequently started sentences with 'And'. It's as though, to them, the nameless, unlamented grammarians who put all the rules together in the past are more important than those great writers. Said great writers 'broke the rules', and that is that. Rules, after all, aren't made by people - they come from God Himself.

I think one of the nearly whole genesis (one of the books of moses anywhoo) starts with Ands...

And those boys, the ones what wrote it, went to some pretty good grammar schools.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet

Gee. I wish I could find someone in the "secretarial class" like you are describing. That would be a dream come true, I have been looking for an assistant like that for years. Accuracy and grammar matter in my work, and I am tired of proof reading my assistant's work, instead of the the other way around.
<snipped>

quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes
In general, "who" for "whom" and vice-versa.  As in the OP, there's a simple substitution that clears up which to use:  "I'm going to pick whoever I want to."  WRONG ! ! !  One wouldn't say "I'm picking he," but rather, "I'm picking him."  Thus, the m in him, says "use 'whomever'."<snipped>

Thanks for that, Lance. I've actually never understood the 'whom' and 'who' rule - I've only ever got by with some vague sense of what looks right and what doesn't.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Epytropos
<snipped>
Firstly, whom is acted upon, who acts. Who bought this? For whom was this bought? Who bought this for whom? In technical terms, whom is the object form, whereas who is the subject form. For the most part, instinct will suffice if you are a native speaker.
<snipped>

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes

quote:

ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet

Gee. I wish I could find someone in the "secretarial class" like you are describing. That would be a dream come true, I have been looking for an assistant like that for years. Accuracy and grammar matter in my work, and I am tired of proof reading my assistant's work, instead of the the other way around.
<snipped>

I stand ready to be hired, Ma'am.

Now that would be an odd combination, would it not? 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet

Gee. I wish I could find someone in the "secretarial class" like you are describing. That would be a dream come true, I have been looking for an assistant like that for years. Accuracy and grammar matter in my work, and I am tired of proof reading my assistant's work, instead of the the other way around.