This in the newspaper of record:
I doubt they would have written: My mother’s plan to leave her house to I.
Poor logic and awful grammar from The Irish Times.
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2 comments:
Misuse involving the personal pronoun (first person singular) is very common. I believe the origins lie in the correction of children in school (and more generally) for using a colloquial (ungrammatical) way of speaking, combined with the widespread non-teaching of grammar. So:
Child: Me and Johnny are going out to play ...
Adult: That's "Johnny and I ...!"
So kids get confused about "Me and x ...", or "X and me ...".
Then, they're told, "The verb 'to be' doesn't take an object." But they're not given any real explanation of what that means.
As a result, kids just know that "Me and x" is problematic. I think the thinking goes like this:
1. "X and me, me and x" are problematic.
2. I've been told "X and I" is the correct form.
3. Solution: Always use "X and I"!
The real solution would be to teach grammar better!
(Though we should also remember that lived language and grammar are always evolving. Take the case of the personal pronoun, first person plural. Though the rules are clear, would you colloquially say, "Johnny and we are going ..." or "Johnny and us ..."?)
Francis, thank you for your comment. I have another explanation/theory. People trying to sound posh think I sounds better? I also think it has a middle class/stupid dimension to it. The same people who squirm when they hear: 'I done it' have no trouble with: 'that’s me'. The middle class allow that. Maybe I’m raving; but I can’t tolerate kids for children. I’m swimming against the tide there as per practice and custom. Delighted you read the blog. It was read in 72 countries around the world in the last 24 hours. And readership is growing on a daily basis in China, India, Russia and Brazil.
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