Question

I know that technically in the sentence, "Whom did you call?" the word "whom" is correct, but is it still improper if I said to someone, "Who did you call?" I've hardly ever heard people use whom anyways, but .....

Answer 1

It would be proper... if it fits the sentence.

(In your mentioned case it does)

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It all depends on who you're referring to. Not a name, but whether it's "they" or "them" that would fit in the phrase.

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Example of "whom":

"Whom did you call?"

If you rephrased the sentence, "them" would fit in there, hence why "whom" is used.

"Did you call them?"

This works because "they" did not call your friend, your friend called "them"

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This is generally the law ⇣

Who - They

Whom - Them

The main reason people say "who" so much is just society, but most of the time it's correct anyway.

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Good luck! :)

~pinetree

Answer 2

no one really says whom anymore, but I believe if you wanted to sound like a 19th century person, whom is correct grammar instead of who in that context.