Is 'Whom' Dead?

"Who Cyril Ramaphosa should fire."

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"?

The magazine's editors didn't wait for others to ask it.

"Some readers might have wondered whether someone should fire our proofreaders," they wrote in a follow-up. "Shouldn't that be 'Whom Cyril Ramaphosa should fire'?"

I look at their answer in this recent column.

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