Whom should we trust when it comes to a confusing question of English usage? Why, our Contributor Faith Salie, that's who! "Whom" is an endangered species. Just ask Katy Perry and John Mayer ("Who You ...

That was a recent headline for an Economist magazine article about the new South African president. But one of the biggest questions it raised had nothing to do with global politics. Why not “whom”?

“Who” gets to have all the fun. “Who” gets to be on first. “Who” is responsible for letting the dogs out. Meanwhile, “whom” is sitting in the corner, being perceived as pretentious by plenty of ...