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by blahedo 5605 days ago
That was the traditional rule, but in modern English, "whom" is a particularly marked usage anywhere except as the immediate object of a pronoun. "With whom am I speaking?" sounds formal but fine; "Who am I speaking with?" (or "...to?") is also fine. The form given in the title here is at best overly formal and stilted. What makes it weird is that it mixes the formal not-after-a-preposition "whom" with a sentence-ending "with", mixing register in a very confusing way.

It's like wearing a bow tie and tails with loud bermuda shorts: both are perfectly acceptable public attire and you might see either on a busy urban street of an evening, but it's jarring to see them together.
1 comments
jmulho 5605 days ago
Right. "With whom am I speaking"? sounds stuffy at the beach. "Who am I speaking with?" sounds lazy at the opera. "Whom am I speaking with?" just sounds confused.

A similar example that annoys me is the American pronunciation of the wine Pinot Noir ("PEE-no NWAR"). I say make up your mind. It is either "PEE-no NWA" as in French, or "PEE-not NWAR". The mixed pronunciation just sounds confused. Plus, it goes great with peanuts.

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dctoedt 5605 days ago
> "PEE-no NWA" as in French

Unless the French language has changed since I lived there, Noir would be pronounced NWARhh, with a gutteral R.

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jmulho 5605 days ago
Ok, there is some kind of faint R in the French, but it definitely doesn't ryhme with "see no star".

English: http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/Pinot%20Noir French: http://www.forvo.com/word/pinot_noir/#fr

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