Bryson•s Dictionary for Writers and Editors

360
whim, whimsy / who, whom
and not to the whole of a preceding statement is without foundation
except where there is a chance of ambiguity. The impossibility
of enforcing the rule consistently is illustrated by an
anecdote cited by Gowers. A class in Philadelphia had written
to a local paper’s resident usage expert, asking him what was
wrong with the sentence “He wrecked the car, which was due
to his carelessness.” Notice how the authority hoists himself
with the last three words of his reply: “The fault lies in using
which to refer to the statement ‘He wrecked the car.’ When
which follows a noun, it refers to that noun as its antecedent.
Therefore in the foregoing sentence it is stated that the car was
due to his carelessness, which is nonsense.” See also that,
which.
whim, whimsy.
whinny. The sound a horse makes.
whippet. Breed of dog.
whippoorwill. North American bird, so named because of its call.
whirligig for the fairground ride and beetle, but whirlybird is the slang
term for a helicopter.
whiskey.
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill. (1834–1903) American painter.
White Friars. Carmelites.
whitish. Not white-.
Whit Sunday. The seventh Sunday after Easter.
Whittier, John Greenleaf. (1807–1892) American poet.
whittle. To pare wood; to reduce gradually.
whiz, whizzed, whizzing.
whiz kid, not whizz-, is generally the preferred spelling, though most
dictionaries recognize both. The same applies for whiz-bang, but
with the addition of a hyphen.
who, whom. Whom is used when it is the object of a preposition
(“To whom it may concern”) or verb (“The man whom we saw