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Em vs You - What's the difference?

em | you |

As a preposition em

is around, round.

As an adverb em

is around, about.

em

English

Etymology 1

The typographic em is named after the metal type for the capital (M) in early printing, whose body was square (the printed letter M is almost never one em in width).

Noun

(en noun)
  • The ems and ens at the beginnings and ends.
  • (typography) A unit of measurement equal to the height of the type in use.
  • Synonyms
    * (typography) quad, em quad * (typography) mutton, mut
    Derived terms
    * emcee * em dash

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    (Spivak pronouns) Coined by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from (them), perhaps influenced by (term, 'em).

    Pronoun

  • (neologism) them (singular).
  • * {{quote-book
  • , date = 1986-04-01 , title = The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX macro package , first = Michael , last = Spivak , location = Providence , publisher = American Mathematical Society , page = 68 , isbn = 0821829998 , id = , lccn = 85007506 , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=kXzxAAAAMAAJ&q=up+to+Em+to+indicate+Eir , passage = If the author uses such notation, it should be up to Em to indicate Eir intentions clearly, but there's no harm checking first. }}
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year = 1997 , title = Doom Patrols : A Theoretical Fiction About Postmodernism , first = Steven , last = Shaviro , publisher = Serpent's Tail , location = London , isbn = 9781852424305 , lccn = 9668813 , page = 138 , passage = I may become quite intimate with someone, spend hours with em every night, and yet not have the slightest idea what eir voice sounds like, or what eir RL body looks, feels, and smells like. }}
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year = 2000 , chapter = Ethics, Plugged and Unplugged: The Pegagogy of Disorderly Conduct , first = Jane , last = Love , title = Taking flight with OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work , editors = Inman, James A.; Sewell, Donna N. , publisher = Taylor & Francis , isbn = 0805831711 , id = , page = 193 , passage = E invites em to consider how ey represent emselves(SIC), and in so doing, e focuses eir attention on the ethics that make human relations possible. , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=aFKqSzIxCLkC&pg=PA193 }}
  • * {{quote-web
  • , date = 2011-03-15 , title =
  • 89: New Friend
  • , blog = Riot Nrrd , first = RJ , last = Edwards , url = http://www.riotnrrdcomics.com/2011/03/89-new-friend/ , accessdate = 2012-10-06 , passage = And ultimately: I think my readers are mature enough that knowing eir assigned gender is not going to give them an “excuse” to misgender em . }}
    Synonyms
    * him or her, * (singular) them * (neologism) hir
    Derived terms
    * (neologism) emself

    See also

    * other gender-neutral pronouns

    Etymology 3

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (Scotland, Ireland) a form of hesitant speech, or an expression of uncertainty; um; umm; erm
  • She was going to, em ... the salon, I think.

    you

    English

    Alternative forms

    * ye * ya, yah, yer, yeh, y', yo, yu (informal or eye dialect) * -cha * -ja * u * yoo (eye dialect) * yew * youe, yow, yowe (obsolete)

    Pronoun

  • (object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object.
  • * 1611 , Bible , Authorized (King James) Version. Genesis XLII:
  • And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you , saying, Ye are spies [...].
  • * (William Shakespeare), Richard III :
  • If I may counsaile you, some day or two / Your Highnesse shall repose you at the Tower [...].
  • * 1611 , Bible , Authorized (King James) Version. Genesis XIX:
  • And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city.
  • * 1975 , Joseph Nazel, Death for Hire :
  • You'd better get you a gun and kill him before he kills you or somebody.
  • (object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.)
  • * (Thomas Malory), Le Morte Darthur , Book VIII:
  • I charge you , as ye woll have my love, that ye warne your kynnesmen that ye woll beare that day the slyve of golde uppon your helmet.
  • (subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.)
  • Both of you should get ready now.
    You are all supposed to do as I tell you.
  • (subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.)
  • * (Geoffrey Chaucer), "The Clerk's Tale", Canterbury Tales , Ellesmere manuscript (c. 1410):
  • certes lord / so wel vs liketh yow / And al youre werk / and euere han doon / þat we / Ne koude nat vs self deuysen how / We myghte lyuen / in moore felicitee [...].
  • * 1814 , (Jane Austen), Mansfield Park :
  • You' are right, Fanny, to protest against such an office, but ' you need not be afraid.
  • (indefinite personal pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object).
  • * 2001 , Polly Vernon, The Guardian , 5 May 2001:
  • You' can't choose your family, your lovers are difficult and volatile, but, oh, ' you can choose your friends - so doesn't it make much more sense to live and holiday with them instead?

    Usage notes

    * Originally, , respectively.) * In some forms of English, are all but nonexistent. * Although , or youse (though not all of these are completely equivalent or considered Standard English). * The pronoun is usually omitted in imperative sentences, but need not be. In affirmative imperatives, it may be included before the verb (You go right ahead''; ''You stay out of it''); in negative imperatives, it may be included either before the ''don't'', or, more commonly, after it (''Don't you dare go in there''; ''Don't you start now ). * See for other personal pronouns.

    Synonyms

    * *: thou *: ye *: yer (UK eye dialect) * *: all of you (plural) *: you all *: you + number *: ye *: yous/youse *: y'all, all y'all (Southern US) *: ya'll (AAVE) *: you-uns (Midwestern US and Appalachia) *: yinz *: you guys/you gals *: you lot (UK) *: allyou (Caribbean) *: yer (UK eye dialect) * , ye, to you, to thee, to ye * ye, to you, to ye, to you all * (one) one, people, they, them

    Derived terms

    * you're

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • The individual or group spoken or written to.
  • Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus?
  • Used before epithets for emphasis.
  • You idiot!

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To address (a person) using the pronoun you'', rather than ''thou .