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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

noun/pronoun + verb + him/her

SH on TV, just now:

Watson: You think him dead, Holmes?
Holmes: I think him murdered, Watson.

Can you please explain that somewhat odd usage?
  

Top answer

To think somebody something is old-fashioned. To think something something is not quite so old-fashioned. The example in the AHD is, "I think it only fair", which is passable but kind of stuffy for every day.

— Enoon

  • To think somebody something is old-fashioned.
  • To think something something is not quite so old-fashioned.
  • The example in the AHD is, "I think it only fair", which is passable but kind of stuffy for every day.
  • "I think him fair" is not really possible any more, at least in American English.
  • " was never right.
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7 Answers
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To think somebody something is old-fashioned. To think something something is not quite so old-fashioned. The example in the AHD is, "I think it only fair", which is passable but kind of stuffy for every day. "I think him fair" is not really possible any more, at least in American English.

In my opinion, Watson's, "Do you think him dead?" was never right. To think someone something
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enoon.In my opinion, Watson's, "Do you think him dead?" was never right. To think someone something is to regard him as such. You can think him a rogue, you can think him civilized, but you can't regard him as dead. I believe the screenwriters twisted Victorian English a bit to set up the gag. Holmes's "I think him murdered" is over the same line, but farther.
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Please provide a sentence for "think him missing". There are contexts where that would be unremarkable.
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enoonPlease provide a sentence for "think him missing". There are contexts where that would be unremarkable.
Here are some examples of the same:

Did you think him insane when he was first sent?
1881 - http://books.google.es/books?id=

"he expressed so naturally t
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Thank you. Those are all perfectly proper examples of the same usage we were discussing. Note, however, how old they are, and that each adjective is a matter of opinion and point of view, unlike "dead".
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enoonThank you. Those are all perfectly proper examples of the same usage we were discussing. Note, however, how old they are, and that each adjective is a matter of opinion and point of view, unlike "dead".
The Herodias one uses "dead". And "think" expresses opinion. Can we not say "Do you think he is dead?"
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Anonymous enoonThank you. Those are all perfectly proper examples of the same usage we were discussing. Note, however, how old they are, and that each adjective is a matter of opinion and point of view, unlike "dead".The Herodias one uses "dead". And "think" expresses opinion. Can we not say "Do you think he is dead?"
Ah. You're right. I missed that. I call th
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