what

[sejpdw]

Roosevelt believed in using the full power of government to help what he called the "forgotten pople." And it was these workers, the wage earners, who felt the strongest affection toward Roosevelt.

Q. In 'to help what', 'whom' seems to be right instead of 'what'. What's your opinion?

[Bridget]

I'd use "those".

[OddThomas]

It's actually acceptable to refer to people as what or that, style guides notwithstanding. First, it is not a grammatical error, and second, such use is as old as the language itself.

In this case, phrases such as what he called, what is known as, and what they say, are idiomatic in the language, and are commonplace as stock phrases. They probably won't be modified for species on a regular basis, I'm afraid, as you've noticed.

[MrPedantic]

Yes, I'd agree that "what" is fine.

If you did want to change it, "whom" alone would sound awkward; but you could say "help those whom he called".

Best wishes,

MrP