What does 'em abbreviation mean?

Question

I saw a phrase of the song of LP which contains 'em

So smoke 'em if you got 'em

Cause it's going down

All I ever wanted was you

It is a shortened form of "them". It is how some speakers say the word in casual conversation. — TimR, Oct 12 '16 at 17:29
In context, *'em = them* probably means [tobacco] cigarettes, but sometimes it might mean, for example, reefers* (marijuana "joints"), or it might feasibly be a far more metaphorical usage (Do whatever you want / whatever turns you on, if you've got the wherewithal).* Equivalent in the military to, say, Stand easy, men! or At ease! — FumbleFingers, Oct 12 '16 at 17:35
Possible duplicate of what is the difference between 'em and them — P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica, Oct 12 '16 at 19:34

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 12 '16 at 17:32

6

'Em is the same as the pronoun them; it is never used in stressed positions and it is somewhat colloquial, such that you will often find it in popular music but not in scientific articles.

Although it may seem so, 'em is not an abbreviation of them. These words have different origins: 'em comes from Old English whereas them comes from Old Norse.

answered Oct 12 '16 at 17:32

J. Siebeneichler

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Not an abbreviation of "them", huh? I did not know that. Really interesting. source – Andrew Oct 12 '16 at 17:35
I wouldn't have known this myself, but the Wiktionary entry for 'em says: From earlier hem,* from Middle English hem, from Old English heom ... Now often treated as a form of them, which however derives from Old Norse rather than Old English.* But for all the "historical interest" there, in practice 'em today almost always means them in the minds of actual native speakers, so that's probably all a learner needs to know too. – FumbleFingers Oct 12 '16 at 17:45
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I just don't buy it. In colloquial English, 'em is them. It is always colloquial. The reason for it probably is phonetic/phonemic: it's takes more effort to say: if you GOT THEM, over if you've got 'em. This is similar to: If I see ya for you. Ya is one syllable and you is two. Spoken and colloquial speech does this all the time. Where'd ya think the contractions come from? – Lambie Oct 12 '16 at 18:32
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I don't buy that "'em is not an abbreviation of them". In practice, it is nothing other than an abbreviation of them. It does not have a separate existence, as it were, and the one-time existence of hem has no relevance to current usage and is of interest only to linguists and historians. – stangdon Oct 12 '16 at 19:31
I was among the non-buyers long ago, believing that the colloquial 'em is the result of apheresis of the voiced dental fricative /ð/ ... but a couple of linguists and phonologists convinced me strenuously that this really is a surviving OE dative, and this is accepted by OED and every other authority. The word is noted continuously since the time of Æthelred the Unready. There's an interesting piece on such OE/ME survivors here. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 13 '16 at 02:45

Vanpram P · Answer 2 · 2016-10-12T18:04:46.063

'em is the short form of the word "them".

According to en.oxforddictionaries.com' 'em is defined as:

PRONOUN

‘let 'em know who's boss’

short for them, especially in informal use

It has also a mention about its origin: Origin Middle English: originally a form of hem, dative and accusative third person plural pronoun in Middle English; now regarded as an abbreviation of them.

The sentence posted in question may be expanded as "So smoke them if you got them" (though we are not clear about the context)

Hope it helps.

What does 'em abbreviation mean?

2 Answers2