Comments on: Me, Myself and I

By: Clockmeister

Clockmeister — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:33:40 +0000

Right on re: the use of Him, I, Her, etc. How about addressing the growing improper use of the adverbial phrase “more importantly” instead of “more important”? “Importantly” means ACTING IMPORTANT. When using the phrase “more importantly” it just sits there awaiting a modifier which no one ever gives.
AND THEN there is the abuse (by TV news and script writers) of “there” singular and plural— i.e.”There’s two cars….” instead of “There ARE two cars,” etc.Lazy English just just getting bigger and worse. “MORE IMPORTANTLY, THERE’S A LOT PEOPLE THAT JUST DON’T SPEAK SO GOOD ANY MORE.”

By: The Perspicacious Loris

The Perspicacious Loris — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:20:16 +0000

@Carolina and Coyningham, why would it be ‘I’ if the verb is conjugated for ‘it’? Why use the subject pronoun if it is’nt the subject?

By: ColinUK

ColinUK — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:21:10 +0000

A common error in British is even worse: “Me and him are going to the shop.”!

By: alexcbeal

alexcbeal — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:20:43 +0000

You make a cute caveman face :)

By: holta3

holta3 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:07:16 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I hate when people think they’re being all proper by ALWAYS saying ___ and I.

By: Space_Cadet

Space_Cadet — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:17:04 +0000

I love.

By: AngInAmerica

AngInAmerica — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:42:58 +0000

My favorite grammar tip: “Superman does good. You do well.” :)

By: wx5aaa

wx5aaa — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:16:46 +0000

Im gonna go to the store.

By: andreacro

andreacro — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:24:16 +0000

00:26 – 00:28 funnyest :)

By: Talor

Talor — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:07:58 +0000

thats what me teacher says

By: THAT1GUY

THAT1GUY — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:38:21 +0000

wait… does that mean me talk like caveman???

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:25:36 +0000

You should have called this show Me and I, because you didn’t cover anything about the use of the word myself.

By: Johnb300m

Johnb300m — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:22:38 +0000

“except maybe a caveman would talk that way”

what?

that is so condescending….
Haven’t the GEICO commercials taught you anything about real cavemen???

By: Meandering

Meandering — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:51:07 +0000

The saddest part is that yes, we as english speakers are some of the worst violators of the language. I grew up in the South and they would tell us ain’t ain’t a word, but I didn’t believe them.

By: Carolina

Carolina — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:16:32 +0000

I completely agree with Conyngham. As a teacher of English I have to explain things like these all the time. There’s a great differece between what is grammatically correct and what native speakers of English say in oral speech.

By: Conyngham

Conyngham — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:47:00 +0000

@kbombbilly – “It is I” is the correct form, as are “it is he” and “it is she.” That said, they tend to come across as very stuffy, so even if you’re right and people know you’re right, you usually sound like a prig. There are exceptions, but most of the time, with this rule, you sound more like an idiot when you’re right than when you’re wrong (at least in spoken English).

That’s why you’ve seen both in the printed word. Sometimes people are going for what’s correct, and sometimes the book is from a time when “it is I” sounded natural. In this day and age, “it is me” sounds more natural to the average ear and is usually preferred in fiction and informal writing.

By: steph

steph — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:02:41 +0000

back to english class =P. I love the british accent very funny =].

By: Jennifer McKenzie

Jennifer McKenzie — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:22:24 +0000

I think the guys from Geico Insurance are going to sue you. Or as the great Southern speakers say “Ya’ll”.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:38:29 +0000

Love the British though!

By: kbombbilly

kbombbilly — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:32:22 +0000

So do you say “It is me” or “It is I”? I’ve seen both in published texts.

By: xigging

xigging — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:15:08 +0000

thanks for the quick lesson. should come in handy when writing papers. although for general conversation, I don’t really see the point in worrying about correct grammar. if your message is easily understood, then who cares? it’s like table manners. if you are concerned about making a good impression to important people, then it’s good to know the rules; but for everyday life, it’s not a top concern.

By: kd

kd — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:56:59 +0000

i think what he is really trying to tell us is that the best way to contact them is by e-mail!

By: Bob Romanelli

Bob Romanelli — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:37:30 +0000

Thank you for keeping grammar in English. Even the anchors on TV are wrong. They say things like, “She took John and I to the theater.” No, she took John and me to the theater. Direct objects are always in the objective case. Or, “He gave the money to Mary and I.” No, she gave the money to Mary and me. Objects of the preposition are always in the objective case. Whatever happened to grammar in elementary school? I guess they’re too busy teaching diversity and tolerance, except tolerance for correct English grammar. To be purist, one may even say, “I enjoyed his playing the piano.” Instead of “I enjoyed him playing the piano.” Why? Because a possessive always modifies a gerund. Playing is a gerund. His is a possessive. Simple. Thank God there is someone left on the Internet who cares about grammar. Gibbon tells us in his “Decline and Fall…” that corruption of the language was one of the first signs of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Beware, America. Uphold your language, or you, too, may go the way of Rome. In decline. Thanks again for what you are doing to get people to THINK!

By: thorondor

thorondor — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:48:44 +0000

Yes, I haven’t yet tried to learn Dutch, though I would like to and probably should
Go for grammar

By: henrynew

henrynew — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:43:57 +0000

Me Join… Me find no difficult to join.

But the way In singapore Me, I and my self can be used very intercahngablly without being wrong. Please look under Singlish in wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish

By: Henry

Henry — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:37:37 +0000

Me no Caveman… Me want join 22. Me no Know how to count 22+1=22. Show me the light. Great podcast by the way…

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:10:07 +0000

@thondor, wait till you learn Dutch ;), I think it has even more little surprises. Here we have a word “er” in Dutch, which is a word that no other language anywhere in the world uses, it’s non tranlatable. But in Dutch it’s essential, there is no consistent rule on when and when not to use it, BUT without the sentence sounds horrible. Good luck explaining that to a native non-Dutch speaking person…

Oh and uhm… thanx for the congrats :)

By: thorondor

thorondor — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:51:54 +0000

English is full of these fun little suprises. It probably makes it one of the harder languages to learn. I don’t think that I’ve got them all sorted out yet, and I’ve lived in the U.S. my entire life.
And Ingrid, congrats on the 22 membership.

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:55:41 +0000

wow, that’s what I call usefull. I never really learned English by learning grammar rules, I just say what sounds right to me, so I probably make a lot of mistakes. As long as people can understand me, I’m happy. The me/I thing always had me confused though, thanks for clearing that up…..

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:37:49 +0000

But wouldn’t that be, “My shadow and I”?

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:11:06 +0000

There’s one exception to the “me”/”I” rule that if it “just doesn’t sound right, then it’s not.”
And that is: “I and my shadow…”

By: Brent

Brent — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:14:28 +0000

Me thinks that this was a great show…So me is a caveman. Who knew?

By: christy

christy — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:52:18 +0000

Oh, that you would have had time to address “myself” too. (Like oh so many “professional” emails I receive that end with “…contact [name withheld] or myself…”). Great show, guys.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:13:48 +0000

Me gonna be politically correct and just say…..caveperson.

By: Soul Sister

Soul Sister — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:11:01 +0000

So as a caveman he looks strangely similar to an old boyfriend of mine….

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:02:17 +0000

Please don’t give cavemen a bad name. Thanks.

By: Nospinplease

Nospinplease — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:17:35 +0000

That is a good tip to use! Thanks!

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:07:28 +0000

I’ve heard that women tend to talk more than men. Makes me wonder if back in the cave days women spent more time weaving baskets and stuff and sitting around in circles developing spoken language while the men were out hunting, which sort of requires as much silence as possible. Maybe we have cave-women to thank for language at all. Maybe if it were just cavemen we would still be grunting at each other while pointing as passing wildlife. I wonder if there are any grammatical errors in my comment. JUNGA HUNGRY.

By: Nadine

Nadine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:59:06 +0000

I’m glad there are only cavemen, and no cave women.