Why do people, who write so well, so many people, continue to confuse direct objects with subjects and predicates and and and other parts of the English language that fuck the whole sentence up?
If you're asking for something FOR you and someone else, say "for Ralph and me."
If you're hearing something that someone said, directed to you and a friend, say "Ralph told Ralph and me."
Not, Ralph told Ralph and I. Or, Ralph told Ralph and myself. Myself and Ralph were told. Yeah. That sounds good.
Or, the best, Ralph and myself are the chairs of the knit-a-tea cozy marathon this week. Myself is going to knit a tea cozy. Myself is going to beat the crap outta your happy self's ungrammatical self's cheap handbag.
Or, please send your reply to Ralph and I and we'll make sure you get on the list.
No. We won't, because I'll have beaten the crap outta Ralph's happy self's ungrammatical self's cheap handbag and there will be no one to to put you on the list.
Don't "I" when "me" is right. Otherwise I'll beat up your handbag.
8 months ago
The best way to keep track is to send Ralph to the store for milk and leave the I or me in the sentence.
ReplyDelete"Ginger told Ralph and I to keep it down when we're frolicking in the hot tub" sounds totally off when Ralph is gone -- "Clara told I to keep it down...."
I am probably guilty of the I now and then because it's so freaking common but the "myself" shit really annoys the hell out of me because it's a fad! Idiots are doing it intentionally because they think it's cool! Like "my bad" FUCK! Bad grammar because you grew up in a less educated neighborhood and had a bad example set and your teachers never set you right is one thing (I seen this accident on the way here) but to be using bad grammar intentionally is heinous.
ReplyDeleteI know this is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but there're people at work who do this constantly. I can't get away from it. Oh well. If that's all I gotta worry about ...
ReplyDeleteWell, hell, if people keep on, these abominations will turn into common usage. When's the last time you saw the past tense of "lead" correctly spelled.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year, by the way. And to your commenters.
Back atcha!
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but I suspect I know what prompted this rant. If it was the blog post that I think it was, I acknowledge there was an error, but I have to say that really, really good writing doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with good grammar. The person who wrote the blog that might or might not have triggered your observation has struggled with grammar for much of her life. I know this because I'm her mother. I'm a decent writer, but where I really shine is as an editor. In fact, I spent many years working as a professional editor. When my daughter was still quite young, I recognized she had an above-average ability to tell wonderful stories, and she could write them too. Kind of. Her grammar and spelling were atrocious. Of course, being an obsessive editor, I was horrified. Fortunately, one of her teachers gave me some really good advice. She said, "If you nag at her all the time about her spelling and grammar, you'll stifle her creativity and her desire to write. Don't get all uptight about the mistakes. If she ends up writing professionally, she can hire an editor." And I thought, "Well, of course she can!" Over the years we worked together on the mechanics of writing, but I didn't freak about it, and she actually improved immensely as she continued to write. When she went away to boarding school she would email me the occasional paper and we would get on the phone and work on correcting errors. By the time she graduated from college, she still had me scan through things if I had time, but, really, she could manage on her own. And when I went back to school, she edited my papers. But she still doesn't worry too much about perfect grammar when she's in the throes of putting a story down on paper, and so I continue to proof what she writes until she can hire her own non-relative editor. Mea culpa. I let that grammar error slip through. But it was late, and I was really tired, and as soon as I read your post I could see that error in my mind's eye. I immediately went back and fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out, and thanks for making me laugh even as I sighed over the error of my ways.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, Mary! It wasn't you! It wasn't any blog that I regularly read. In fact, I forget which one it was because I don't have it bookmarked. Also, the reason I ranted was having viewed several emails at work that day by two people who constantly do this. And the emails weren't creative or entertaining, either!
ReplyDelete