Timeline for "them", "themselves," or "their selves"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
25 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 17, 2016 at 20:30 | history | protected | tchrist♦ | ||
| Oct 29, 2015 at 18:45 | comment | added | Sven Yargs | I don't think this question is a duplicate of the one asking why themselves isn't theirselves, in part because their selves doesn't mean the same thing as theirselves. An Ngram graph for "their selves" shows very modest but increasing use of the phrase "their selves" between 1920 and 2005. Many of the recent Google Books search matches for theirselves, in contrast, are in grammar books criticizing the usage. | |
| Oct 28, 2015 at 19:27 | vote | accept | MsPodesta | ||
| Oct 27, 2015 at 23:57 | answer | added | PaulL | timeline score: 4 | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 23:29 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Oct 28, 2015 at 1:18 | |||||
| Oct 27, 2015 at 23:07 | comment | added | herisson | In my opinion, "them" is fine. The subject of the sentence is "the shadows of the men," and the final word of the sentence does not refer back to this subject ("the shadows"), so it does not need to be reflexive. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 23:05 | comment | added | herisson | Can you give us more context for the quotation? What is the source, and what is the cartoon being discussed? | |
| S Oct 27, 2015 at 23:03 | history | edited | herisson | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
improved formatting
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| S Oct 27, 2015 at 23:03 | history | suggested | anonymous | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
improved formatting
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| Oct 27, 2015 at 22:30 | comment | added | MsPodesta | @Mitch I thought that when we use 'themselves' the subject had to be the same not when we use 'them', this is why I thought the sentences (the one with the shadows and the one with the mirror) were analogous but apparently they aren't... Does that mean that the verb we use plays a role here? Do we say "the shadows of the men are younger versions of themselves" but "the shadows of the men show a younger version of them"? – MsPodesta 13 mins ago | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 22:19 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Oct 27, 2015 at 23:03 | |||||
| Oct 27, 2015 at 22:10 | history | edited | MsPodesta | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
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| Oct 27, 2015 at 22:09 | comment | added | Mitch | @MsPodesta Opposite?? Where did this mirror come from? I'm talking only about the last word in the sentence in the OP | |
| S Oct 27, 2015 at 22:08 | history | suggested | raisinghellyer | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Fixed some formatting.
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| Oct 27, 2015 at 22:01 | comment | added | MsPodesta | @Mitch Isn't it the opposite way around? -> Lisa and Tom are looking at themselves in the mirror, the mirror gives a reflection of them? | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:57 | comment | added | Mitch | @MsPodesta "them' is wrong in this context because the 'them' is expected to be the same as the subject of the sentence. We're expecting 'themselves'. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:56 | review | Close votes | |||
| Oct 29, 2015 at 22:25 | |||||
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:54 | comment | added | MsPodesta | do you all agree with fumbleFingers that "them" is wrong here? after all the persons themselves are not aware of the shadows they cast to the wall behind | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:54 | comment | added | MsPodesta | thank you for opinions, especially the comment on the spiritual sense helped me to clarify things for myself | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:44 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | On the other hand, I don't see OP's specific context as any kind of "special justification". It's the same as any other, where the "standard" form would be themselves. Just them or two-word their selves both strike me as far more "strange" than theirselves. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:43 | comment | added | Kristina Lopez | @FumbleFingers - theirselves looks worse in writing than it sounds to my ear. I think I could probably slip it into a spoken conversation without raising too many eyebrows. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:43 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Oct 27, 2015 at 22:08 | |||||
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:36 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Possible duplicate of Why "themselves" and "himself", where the querent hisself starts off by saying In the earliest grades of elementary schools, students learn that "hisself" and "theirselves" are not words. I do not understand why this is. OED says theirselves is "nonstandard and regional after C18", but I don't really object to it - it's certainly not "abominable" in my opinion. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:27 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | The only exception that would make any sense is if you used the word 'self' in a spiritual sense. Even so I personally would never use 'their selves'. It just sounds horrible. | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 21:12 | history | asked | MsPodesta | CC BY-SA 3.0 |