On Wed, March 5, 2008 7:39 pm, Ralph Shumaker wrote >> > > I just wish the mistake of using "I" where it should be "me" would die a > horrible death. Saying: > "Would you like to go to the movies with my brother and I?" is the same > as: > "Would you like to go to the movies with my brother and would you like > to go to the movies with I?" is akin to: > "Would you like to go to the movies with we?" > > The bad grammar of the second and third lines are obvious to everyone. >
OMYGAWD **YES**!!! It comes from trying to sound _more_ educated w/o understanding the underlying grammar. I _wince_ when I hear it from a teacher. > But then again, [sigh], if it catches on enough, it will become normal, > and once normal, then correct. [sigh] > NEVER!!! But you're right. My 4th Grade teacher (Eisenhower administration) was still fighting the good fight, insisting that "everyone," "anyone," someone," and "none" (being a contraction of "no one") were singular. The problem with that is, with gender pronouns, you end up offending women with "everyone should bring his raincoat," and performing a cumbersome abomination with "everyone should bring his or her raincoat." "Their" spares you the embarrassment of gender, so most say "... bring _their_ raincoat" which is plural. But no one would miss the singular nature of the subject-verb agreement in the following: Everyone says so. # singular Everyone say so. # plural and painful to the ear Another ugly trend is the loss of the plural forms of to be. I can't tell you how many times I hear supposedly edicated people say: There's three reasons we shouldn't do that. Of course, this should be: There are three reasons ... I guess the word "there's" for "there is" is becoming like the Spanish verb "hay." I'm BCCing my brother the fellow pedant so that he can give his nodded approval of his younger sibling, but he should be careful not to use "Reply To" unless he wants all of KPLUG to see his answer. -- Lan Barnes SCM Analyst Linux Guy Tcl/Tk Enthusiast Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
