Me, Myself and I

[Dimandja]

These words are commonly abused and mutilated.

For example, I keep hearing "As for myself..." instead of "As for me...".

Or, "Jack and me went to school", instead of "Jack and I went to school".

 

[hilfy]

Rule of thumb that I learned for me/I - if you take the "<name> and" out of the sentence, which would you use?

For example:

"Jim and __ went to school" would be "I went to school" so "I" is correct.

"She gave candy to Jim and ___" would be "She gave candy to me" so "me" is correct.

-Dell

 

[Katy44]

The "between you and I" abuse is something that really winds me up!I've also heard that rule, and it's so simple to follow, I don't understand why those words are so commonly misused.
The "myself" one, I find less easy to remember. The word seems to be used to sound important: "You should come and have a talk with myself..." and that just sounds so pretentious. I try to avoid the word altogether, unless saying "I did it myself" etc.

 

[strongm]

'myself' is really just used to emphasise 'I' - and yes, I agree it sounds pretentious most of the time.

 

[sha76]

I would disagree about the usage of 'myself', maybe it's another UK/US thing, as the examples quoted do sound very strange to me.
How else would you phrase "I wouldn't do that myself", "I just shot myself in the foot" or "Talking to myself"

"Your rock is eroding wrong." -Dogbert

 

[strongm]

Sorry, should have said "mostly" in my last comment.

"I wouldn't do that myself" is a good example of 'myself' being used to emphasis 'I'

 

[Katy44]

sha76- I agree that is exactly how 'myself' should be used.

In Latin, don't they have two completely different words for the two uses? From what I remember 'se' would mean 'himself' in the sentence 'He shot himself in the foot', but 'ipse' would be used to say 'he himself shot the deer'. However, I have heard it recently used so many times when the word 'me' or 'my' should have been used, in my opinion.

On the other issue, I was listening to a radio debate where they were talking about the recent incident with Prince Harry (for those who don't know a member of the UK Royal Family has recently been involved in a scuffle with a photographer) and this man, who was some sort of spokesperson for the royal family pointed out that "Prince Harry's upkeep does not come out of the taxes paid by you and I". I assume a large part of this person's job is public speaking!

 

[KenCunningham]

Personally....

No I'll not go there!

 

[Katy44]

Was that post directed at I myself?

 

[KenCunningham]

Not at all. I myself wouldn't be so rude

Probably.

 

[mscallisto]

I wouldn't do that myself"

why not

"I wouldn't do that"

I and myself in the same sentence is redundant

 

[harebrain]

It's not redundant, it's emphatic.

An old exclamation intended to cut off further debate: Ipse dixit! ([He] himself said it!)

Bonus points to Katy44 (or anyone else) for identifying to whom "he" refers.

 

[mscallisto]

If ipse dixit I stand corrected!

 

[CajunCenturion]

I believe that 'he' refers to Aristotle.

Good Luck
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[harebrain]

Nice, CC! Points to you! And, as on "Whose Line Is It Anyway," they're not worth anything.