I’ll bet you’ve had your fill this week of the former beauty queen, former mayor of Wasilla, former governor of Alaska, former vice-presidential candidate. I know I have. So while the pundits talk on and on about Sarah Palin, I space out and listen to their grammar.
I have to admit, I was surprised to hear Gwen Ifill and Bob Woodward, on ABC’s This Week, screw up their pronouns when discussing Going Rogue. It was the pronouns “going rogue” in their exchange:
Ifill: “Women will be drawn to her story—and that’s who she’s speaking to…. These are people who are ignored, who nobody counts into their thinking.”
Woodward: “You can be drawn to somebody’s story—and buy their book and read their book. That doesn’t mean you want them to be President, or that you’re drawn to them to lead.
OK, OK, it’s not fair to expect perfect grammar when people are speaking extemporaneously. But c’mon! These are two of the country’s top journalists!
Gwen, it should be “whom she’s speaking to” and “whom nobody counts into their thinking.”
Bob, please. Isn’t one Sarah sufficient? Somebody is singular, so readers can buy her book and read her book and want her to be president and be drawn to her to lead.
Doesn’t Bob Woodward read this blog? I just wrote about Barak Obama’s rogue pronouns a few weeks ago!
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Posted in Blog | 3 Comments »
Tags:Bob Woodward, Gwen Ifill, indefinite pronouns, pronouns, Sarah Palin, somebody, who and whom
November 20th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Here’s another pronoun goof from the same political week. But this is Emily Rooney, on “Beat the Press,” produced by WGBH in Boston:
“From the massacre at Ft. Hood to the health-care debate to even beauty pageant queen Carrie Prejean, the political right is grabbing the story live. The question is, are they right?”
Well, Emily, you aren’t. The political right is singular; the question would be, is IT right?
Is your show “Beat the Press,” or “Beat the Pronoun”?
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Isn’t it possible for him to correctly address Palin “and others like her” in this instance without actually having to specify? In terms of usage we both understood what he was (attempting) to say, right?
BTW, I enjoy the blog.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
But it’s so much cleaner to get your pronouns right! And there are certainly instances in which the plural pronoun for a singular subject confuses.
I always think clarity and elegance trump “usage,” and I hold writers and professional communicators to a higher standard than just “acceptable usage.”
Glad you like the blog! Hope to hear from you again!