A Dictionary of Cont..

theism
ard language at least five hundred years ago. A
grammarian writing in 1762 thought that themselves
was a corruption and theirselves the logically
correct form. But themselves was the acceptable
form in 1762 and is the acceptable form today.
However, the possessive form their, and not
the objective form them, is required when another
word stands between the pronoun and the
word selves, as in their very selves.
theism. See deism.
them. The word them should not be used as an
adjective. That is, it should not be used to
qualify a noun, as in them melons, them friends
of yours. Actually, it is used in this way and
has been for about four hundred years, but the
construction has always been considered uneducated
usage. Even when standing alone, them
cannot be used to point out anything inanimate,
but only to refer back to something that has
already been mentioned. In a grocery store we
cannot say I will take two of them melons. Nor
can we look hard at the melons and say I will
take two of them. In both cases we must say
either these or those. However, if the grocer says
these are very fine melons we can then say I will
take two of them, because at this point them
refers to something already mentioned and is
not being used as a demonstrative pronoun. This
distinction does not apply when speaking about
human beings. We can say wait on them first
without anything having been said about “them”
before. And the rule does not apply to they.
This word is never used before a noun, but it
can be used to point out something. We can
look hard at another box of melons and say
they look nicer to me. (For the use of them in
speaking of a single person, see they. For when
to use them rather than they, see objective pronouns.
)
themself; themselves. Originally, the word self
could be used as a singular or as a plural and,
until about 1540. themself was the only form in
use. Since then, the form.themselves has driven
themself from standard English. Themself is
now archaic. (For the ways in which themselves
may be used, see reflexive pronouns.)
then is primarily an adverb but it may also be
used as an adjective before a noun, as in the
then president, the then Prince of Wales. It has
been used in this way for at least three hundred
years.
there may be a demonstrative adverb meaning “in
that place,” as in there nothing is wrong; or it
may be a function word without any meaning of
its own, as in there is nothing wrong. The demonstrative
adverb always has a heavy stress
and the function word is always pronounced
lightly. One may use both in the same sentence
without seeming to have used the same word
twice, as in there there is nothing wrong.
The only interesting thing about the demonstrative
adverb is that it cannot stand before a
noun. That man there is my friend is a dignified
sentence. But that there man is my friend is at
present unspeakable! Someone has said that that
there is now ‘&the most illiterate noise one can
make.” The expression is not wrong because
there repeats the demonstrative that. We have no
objection at all to repeating an elemental notion,
as in the self-same song. What we object to is the
adverb standing before the noun, and when there
follows man, all is well. The expression is grammatically
comparable to the above remarks, his
then residence, but it has been made a scapegoat,
and a wise man will not associate with a scapegoat
unnecessarily.
The second there (the function word) is much
more interesting. It always stands where we expect
to find the subject of a verb, and in this
resembles the expletive it. (See it.) But the
there type of sentence is different from the it
type of sentence in structure and in meaning.
It may be used as a “dummy” subject with any
verb, as in it astonishes me that. . . . In current
English the empty there can only be used with a
purely linking verb, principally be, come, seem,
appear. The verb following it is always singular,
even when the subject represented by it is plural,
as in it was his friends who told him. The verb
following there may be singular or plural. According
to the rules, it is plural if the meaningful
subject of the sentence is plural, and singular if it
is not, as in there were friends who told him and
there was one in particular. There is a strong
tendency today to use only a singular verb after
there, even with a plural subject. This is now
acceptable English when the word closest to the
verb is singular, as in there was a man and two
women. A singular verb is often heard before a
plural word, as in there was two women, but this
offends many people and is condemned by most
grammarians.
The subject represented by it may be a noun
or pronoun but more often it is a that clause or
an infinitive. The meaningful subject of a there
sentence is never a clause or an infinitive.
The expletive it is used simply to fill the subject
position, so that we may place the true subject
somewhere else, either to make it emphatic
or because it is too long to handle efficiently
before the verb. If we replace it with the words
it represents the sentence loses emphasis or becomes
unwieldy. The there construction on the
other hand makes a vague or indefinite statement.
It is used chiefly with indefinite qualifying
words such as a, no, some, any, few, many, as in
there are some who say, there is a man who says.
When particularizing words such as the, this,
that, my, are used, the individual in most cases
is being offered as a type or an example, as in
there is the man who says and there is the child
next door, for example. The principal statement
in a there sentence is “this exists,” or “this seems
to be,” and the meaningful statement is subordinated
to this. The there construction detaches
the statement from the speaker and makes it impersonal.
If such a sentence is recast it does not
lose emphasis but becomes more immediate,
more concrete and more vivid.
thereabout; thereabouts. These words are used
interchangeably today, and have been for several
centuries. Some grammarians claim that there-