"Each" followed by pronouns

Maryn

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I'm not in agreement with an editor. It's a small thing, but before I demand my way I should, of course, be sure I'm right. And I've thought about this enough that I've managed to thoroughly confuse myself.

The original sentence, with a noun change to make it suitable for all ages:

He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.

The editor would like both uses of it to be changed to them. Yes? No? Reasons?

If it matters, editor is British, I'm American. Nearly all editor's other suggestions will make the manuscript better, as she clearly knows her stuff.

Maryn, confuzzled
 

alleycat

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Them sounds better to me.

Or maybe . .

He kissed each finger, flicking each with his tongue, leaving them glistening.
 

Torgo

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I think 'it' is correct, but to be honest I'm not actually that great at grammar (I am a story guy not a copy-ed.) Now I'm wondering what the original noun w- oh actually as I type I just realised what it probably is.

EDIT: Oh, balls, maybe 'them' does sound better. Ignore me.
 

Kerosene

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I like alleycat's suggestion. "Each finger" sounds plural as a group to me.
 

Ari Meermans

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Honestly, I think it's 'it' as the attention is given to each finger individually. Using 'them' makes me think all fingers all at once.

Ari, not a grammarian
 

alleycat

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The more I look at the sentence the more I become unsure.

Now I'm thinking it is probably correct.

Call me Mr. Wishy-Washy.
 

Corussa

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Honestly, I think it's 'it' as the attention is given to each finger individually. Using 'them' makes me think all fingers all at once.

Ari, not a grammarian

I'd agree with this; use 'it' to match the singular of 'each'.

:)
 

SWest

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There's this group of fingers, and something happens to each of them, whereupon they are all...whatever they ended up becoming.

:D

Westie, who repped what she thinks Maryn's thinking
 

Maryn

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Ah, but it is safe to accept the word of someone who keeps shoes so far beyond their useful lives?

Maryn, who has a T-shirt advertising a 1989 event in regular rotation
 

SWest

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:D

Those shoes have, sadly, passed on.

ETA:

OK...I think I've figured out what makes my brain pop: I do not know where to look. :D

I'd address this scene in either of two ways:

All singular: He kissed Sam's left thumb, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening. Then Sam's right thumb suffered the exact same fate.

All plural: He kissed both of Sam's thumbs, flicking each (of them - implied) with his tongue, leaving them glistening.


Westie, who has lost considerable sleep thinking about this
 
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quickWit

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I had something for this...
I'd have him skip her fingers and head straight for her honeypot.

However, if you INSIST on taking the long route...'them', while probably not technically correct, sounds better to me.
 

Maryn

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I'd have him skip her fingers and head straight for her honeypot.

However, if you INSIST on taking the long route...'them', while probably not technically correct, sounds better to me.
Who says it's really fingers? Remember, I changed the noun to make it board appropriate. Also, who says it's a she?

Maryn, sly grin
 

Roger J Carlson

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He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.
It sounds much better the way you've written it. It gives a much more vivid image of kissing and licking each one at a time. Besides, it's correct.
 

Chase

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He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.

The editor would like both uses of it to be changed to them. Yes? No? Reasons?

Your editor is one enamored with the singular them. Many are. Still, the style of matching pronouns to antecedents in number is always correct, so you're right whether your choice is all singular or all plural:

All singular: He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.

All plural: He kissed the offered fingers, flicking them with his tongue, leaving a high-glistening five.

Your first choice is my choice.
 

alleycat

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Well, if these are not actually fingers but, uh, something else (of which there are two), then I would definitely go with it.
 

Chase

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Leave it to a scholarly-looking, well-dressed cat to think of his ears being licked. Now I'll have nightmares about overly moist ears.
 

alleycat

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Yeah, but I'm not wearing pants.
 

BethS

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Why not eliminate the problem word?

He kissed her fingers, flicking them with his tongue, etc.
 

Kittens Starburst

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Why not eliminate the problem word?

He kissed her fingers, flicking them with his tongue, etc.

This is best, and common sense tells you he's attacking each finger individually, not getting stuck into them all at once.

If you want to keep the fingers individual, my instincts say 'them' (just like in the above sentence, in fact). But I could be wrong.
 

Jamesaritchie

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I'm not in agreement with an editor. It's a small thing, but before I demand my way I should, of course, be sure I'm right. And I've thought about this enough that I've managed to thoroughly confuse myself.

The original sentence, with a noun change to make it suitable for all ages:

He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.

The editor would like both uses of it to be changed to them. Yes? No? Reasons?

If it matters, editor is British, I'm American. Nearly all editor's other suggestions will make the manuscript better, as she clearly knows her stuff.

Maryn, confuzzled

The second "it" means he left his tongue glistening.
 

Fallen

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He kissed each finger, flicking it with his tongue, leaving it glistening.


You know, I fall on the 'them' side. Purely because I get the sense that he's finished kissing all the fingers before the participles kick in. (He's gone along 'flicking them with his tongue, leaving them glistening.)

He kissed one finger, then another, flicking each with his tongue, leaving them glistening.
 
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