English

Pronoun

'em

1. (now colloquial) Them (typically after a preposition, or otherwise with accusative or dative force; now only in unstressed position).
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter j, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVI:

     Truly said sire Ector I can not here of hym nor of syr Galahad / Percyuale nor syr Bors / lete hem be sayd syre Gawayne / for they foure haue no pyeres

   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night:

     Some are become great, some atcheeues greatnesse, and some haue greatnesse thrust vppon em.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting ’em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

   • 2010, John Baron, The Guardian, 3 December:

     We've literally had dozens of your photographs submitted this week – keep ’em coming!

Derived terms

• beat 'em up
• hold 'em, Texas hold 'em
• shoot 'em up
• stick 'em up
• up and at 'em

See also

• 'er
• 'im
• 'um

Anagrams

• me, ME, Me.

References

1. ↑ “'em” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.