'em

See also: Appendix:Variations of "em"

English

A graffiti reading Make 'em pay in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Alternative forms

• hem

Etymology

From earlier hem, from Middle English hem, from Old English heom (“them”, dative) of hie, originally a dative plural form but in Middle English coming to serve as an accusative plural as well. Cognate with Dutch hun (“them”), German ihnen (“them”).

Now often treated as a form of them, which however derives from Old Norse rather than Old English.

Pronunciation

• enPR: əm, IPA^(key): /əm/, [əm], [m̩], [ɪm], [ɛm]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əm, -ɪm, -ɛm

Pronoun

'em

1. (now colloquial) Them (now only in unstressed position following a consonant).
   • 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
• go get 'em
• hold 'em, Texas hold 'em
• shoot 'em up
• stick 'em up
• up and at 'em

See also

• 'er
• 'im
• 'um

Anagrams

• -me-, /me, M&E, ME, Me, Me., me