Query

[Ellen Contini-Morava]

I agree that this question needs context and that there's a difference 
in nuance.  I would suggest doing a google search on "all of them" vs. 
"them all" and see how they're actually used.

Ellen

Val Pagliai Nesti wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am not sure about being colloquial, and I would need some context to decide, but the shade of meaning seems different.
> For example, let's say I am talking about killing roaches in my apartment. 
> 
> "We killed all of them" sounds more like something I would use to make a report.
> "We killed them all" sounds more self-complacent.
> 
> Then, again, much depends on the paralanguage etc.
> 
> This anyway is my opinion, but I am not a native speaker of English.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Valentina Pagliai
> UCLA
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Robert Lawless <robert.lawless at WICHITA.EDU>
> To: LINGANTH at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 5:38:55 PM
> Subject: [LINGANTH] Query
> 
> Which do you consider more colloquial in US speech?
> 
> We killed them all.
> 
> We killed all of them.
> 
> 
> 
>