em
A gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the objective case of ey or e,…A gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the objective case of ey or e, equivalent to the singular them and coordinate with him and her.
» If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Wenn du sie nicht besiegen kannst, schließe dich ihnen an.
Meaning
1 senses(gender neutral, nonstandard, objective, rare, singular, third person)A gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the objective case of ey or e, equivalent to the singular them and coordinate with him and her.
Examples
37 sentencesIf you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
deWenn du sie nicht besiegen kannst, schließe dich ihnen an. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
She's as clever as they make 'em.
Stick 'em up!
Руки вгору! — Ahha
deHände hoch! — MUIRIEL
It's a shoot-'em-up western.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Origin
Coined by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from them, perhaps influenced by theCoined by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from them, perhaps influenced by the pre-existing em/'em, now often perceived as apheretic forms of them (though originally unrelated).
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