them

objective of they · alternative nonstandard dem

1. Those ones.
   1. in pluralpersonalpronounthird personUsed as the direct object of a verb.

      She treated them for a cold.

      1 more example

      Proponents of adding a gender-neutral option to state identification documents say it would remove a form of discrimination against nonbinary people by providing them with the means to carry identification that matches their identity.

      2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019

   2. in pluralpersonalpronounthird personUsed as the indirect object of a verb.

      She wrote them a letter.

   3. in pluralpersonalpronounthird personUsed as the object of a preposition.

      Give it to them.

   4. colloquialin pluralnonstandardpersonalpronounthird personuncommonAs a grammatical subject or object when joined with a conjunction.

      [...] and now them and the Goo Goo Dolls are playing together.

      2 more examples

      […]Illinois, told Christina Holmes Tillson (just arrived from Connecticut herself) : “I am getting skeery about them 'ere Yankees. There is such a power of them coming in that them and the Injuns will squatch out [everyone else].

      2006 September 27, David Ress, Governor Edward Coles and the Vote to Forbid Slavery in Illinois, 1823-1824, McFarland, →ISBN, page 64

      Them and the boys went to live with Auntie Madge and Uncle Herbie when Miss Violet died.

      2021 June 10, Yvonne Bailey-Smith, The Day I Fell Off My Island, Myriad Editions, →ISBN

   5. in pluralpersonalpronounthird personUsed in isolation or apposition, or (sometimes proscribed) as the complement of the copula (be).

      Who was there? —Them.

      2 more examples

      Who did this? —Them. They did it. (or:) It was them. They did it.)

      Who did that? —(It was) not them: I was watching them the whole time.

2. A single person, previously mentioned, whose gender is unknown, irrelevant, or (since 21st c.) non-binary.
   1. personalpronounsingularthird personoccasionally proscribedUsed as the direct object of a verb.

      If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them.

      3 more examples

      If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, […] [t]hen shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 17:2–5

      Place the casualty on their back with feet and legs raised—this is called the shock position. [emphasis in original] Once the casualty is positioned, cover them to preserve body heat, but do not overheat.

      2006, St. John Ambulance, First on the Scene: Student Reference Guide, →ISBN, Lesson 2, page 3

      Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, ‘Morning, Yaxley!’ Yaxley ignored them.

      2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, London: Bloomsbury, 2008, →ISBN, page 270

   2. personalpronounsingularthird personoccasionally proscribedUsed as the indirect object of a verb.

      If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner.

   3. personalpronounsingularthird personoccasionally proscribedUsed as the object of a preposition.

      If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them.

      1 more example

      Each adolescent girl with ASD has needs specific to her because each of them has variable characteristics and different degrees of sensory and perceptual difficulties.

      2024 July 2, Rukiye Arslan, Derya Yanık, Raziye Pekşen Akça, “Investigation of Menstrual Hygiene and Self-Care Skills of Adolescent Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mother Views”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, →DOI

   4. colloquialnonstandardpersonalpronounsingularthird personuncommonoccasionally proscribedAs a grammatical subject or object when joined with a conjunction.

      "[…] he said that everybody was being watched, and if they seen anybody giving Union cards to anybody on Company property, that them and the person receiving the card, they would both be fired.

      1969, United States. National Labor Relations Board, Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, page 82

   5. personalpronounsingularthird personoccasionally proscribedUsed in isolation or apposition, or (sometimes proscribed) as the complement of the copula (be).

      Who was there? —Them.

      2 more examples

      Who did this? —Them. They did it. (or:) It was them. They did it.)

      Who did that? —(It was) not them: I was watching them the whole time.

3. dialectalpersonalpronounthird personinformal set phrasesThey; those.

   Them's the breaks.

   4 more examples

   I know it seems unfair, but them's the rules.

   And his mercy is on them that feare him, from generation to generation. Hee hath shewed strength with his arme, he hath scattered the proud, in the imagination of their hearts.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:50–51

   It was a long time ago. And in them days, everything was mighty satisfactory.

   1946, Morton Grant, Maurice Rapf, Dalton S. Reymond, Song of the South, spoken by Uncle Remus (James Baskett)

   ‘Ah - them was the days,’ Windy murmured, and slid two bob across the bar.

   1960, J. E. Macdonnell, Don't Gimme the Ships, Melbourne: Horwitz Publications, page 25

plural thems · alternative nonstandard dem

1. uncommonSynonym of they (“a non-binary person”).

   Synonyms: they

alternative nonstandard dem

1. dialectalThose.

   Gimme two of them yellow ones.

   5 more examples

   How would you like a scrummage, Andy, with them Scotchmen that stole your mother's chickens this morning?

   1835, John Pendleton Kennedy, Horse Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency

   The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; / Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul. / An' all them joys o' life I 'eld so sweet / Is up the pole.

   1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13

   "I say it's a shame, Silas Linden, the way them children is treated."

   1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

   America you don’t really want to go to war. America it's them bad Russians. Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.

   1956, Allen Ginsberg, “America”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 33

   "[…] Them two wild horses ain't fit to ride, and I been wonderin' how I was goin' to get you out of this place before them Spanish maybe circle back and finish the job."

   2005, Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas, Tor/Forge, page 111