Saturday, August 25, 2012

Staying Away From Jimmy

As you may recall from two of my previous posts about language and word use, Writing Wrongs and Caring Less, I get annoyed very easily when I hear or see the English language being abused. I'm not talking about slipping into some regionalisms on occasion, or using slang when it makes sense. I'm talking about when people have absolutely no idea of how the language works. Ironically, many of the people I hear abusing English the worst are often the ones screaming loudest about making America an English-only country. They should take some remedial lessons before they open their mouths on the subject.

My focus today will be on pronouns. You know, those words that substitute for nouns, like I, me, she, they, and so on. Some of these words are subjective pronouns; they are doing the action in a sentence, like "I wish this stuff didn't annoy me so much" or "She should learn to speak properly before she says another annoying thing." Then there are the objective pronouns, that have the action done to them, like "Give the remedial English lesson book to her" or "I'm going to smack him in the head if he uses the wrong pronoun again". These are sentences I have said more than once.

I think the most common error is using I when me is called for. It seems like people were scared away from ever using the word me when they were kids and being constantly corrected for saying things like "Me and Jimmy are going to the liquor store" or "Me and Jimmy will be in the garage smoking a joint". First of all, stop worrying about the pronouns and get your kid away from Jimmy!

Now that Jimmy's in a Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, you can tell your child that me is the wrong word and that I is the correct subjective pronoun to use.  But since this is probably the most common incorrect use of me, and it gets drummed in constantly to use I instead, me has become a four-letter word. I can count, you know what I mean. So the result is people use I as both a subjective and an objective pronoun, because they are either afraid to say me, or because they sometimes feel using I sounds more sophisticated.

The mistake usually occurs when there are more than one objects in a sentence, so you'll hear something like "Give the money to Jimmy and I" (apparently said after a drug deal - Jimmy was released too early) instead of  "... Jimmy and me". The best way to get it right is to assume Jimmy isn't there (which he wouldn't be if the court system were any better). You wouldn't say "Give the money to I" so why would you use I just because Jimmy is involved? You know every time Jimmy's around something's going to go wrong!

Also, people use a phrase like "Jimmy and I" as if they were inseparable words and place them anywhere, as the subject, as the object, or in the absolutely worst usage I have ever heard, as a possessive. I have heard numerous people say something like "That is Jimmy and I's haul from the bank job". Again, how would you say it individually? "Jimmy's haul" and "my haul" so combined it would be "That is Jimmy's and my haul". Easy, right?

And for crying out loud, could someone please do something about Jimmy?

To be continued....

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16 comments:

  1. Love the idea of looking at the sentence without the other pronoun then it's perfectly clear, I think. Because if Sheryl and me are running late for class, we better get going because Sheryl and my assignments are due. Then without Sheryl should it me: Me running late, I better get going because my assignment is due. No I think I'm running late. Oh well, even a college-educated person can get confused with grammar.
    Good article!
    check out this weeks blog on getting what you want : http://nowmotivated.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, Celia. I've been reading and enjoying your blog, too.

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  2. So far, this is my favorite blog of yours--mainly because I like the running joke about Jimmy.

    The me vs. I mistake is one I make constantly. For some reason, that and the whole lie/lay/lain thing never completely gelled in my brain--I'm always having to look up which is which (it doesn't help that most of my narrators have an even worse grasp on the English language than I do ... oddly enough, the one I'm using as of late is named Jimmy.)

    ~ Leslie "the Leslie" Hopen

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    1. Hi Leslie. You and my wife think alike, it's her favorite so far too. Hope things are good out in the Lonestar State! Give my regards to Jimmy!

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  3. Amen! Amen! Amen!

    Loved the creative format for your grammar lesson, John. Ralph says that example should be used in school...kids would remember it.

    Lois

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    1. Thanks, Lois. Glad you and Ralph enjoyed it. By the way, we're getting some tropical storm weather here as a result of Isaac. Steady rain, sometimes heavy, and so far not too severe winds. We could end up with 6-7 inches of rain before it's over, though.

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  4. Oh, dear! Even at my advanced age I hear Dad warning we three of his daughters to drop the noun and we would never make Jimmy's mistake. Born in Manhattan, my father went to first grade speaking only Italian but, once he learned basic English, he perfected it.
    Thanks for the memory.

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    1. That was the way I learned how to use me or I, too, going back to grammar school. I'm surprised that some people have never heard of that method. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

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  5. John, I have used the "drop Jimmy" method with my children with great success. It irks me no end to hear even people of supposedly "higher" education fall into the I-vs.-me trap. Equally I cringe when lie and lay are misused.
    Do you have any more language classes? They are badly needed, mostly among first language English speakers, and you have a great system.

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    1. Thanks. A lot of language shortcomings irk me, as you probably know if you've read some of my other posts. Your comment came through as "anonymous" so I don't know who you are, but I'd like to discuss it further with you.

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  6. I think you're absolutely correct about why people say "Jimmy and I' when the correct phrase would be "Jimmy and me"--scared out of their minds as children when they said "Me and Jimmy". I just tuned into your blog, so I don't know this Jimmy fellow, but I'm interested in learning more aboutthe poor guy.

    What's bothering my husband and me lately is the use of "less" when "fewer" is correct. We seem to be hearing more of that on TV commercials. Who are they getting to write their ads?

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    1. Thanks, Lesley and welcome. I hope you get to read some of my earlier posts. This was Jimmy's first appearance, but based on people's reactions, he may become a regular! Less and fewer is another one of my peeves, too. I'm sure I'll work it into an entry sooner or later.

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  7. My mother, an English teacher, spent most of my childhood chasing Jimmy out of our garage! Great post :)

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    1. Thanks, Jacqui. I guess we've all had a Jimmy in our lives. Glad you liked the post.

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  8. Great post! I will have to think of something constructive for Jimmy to do.... (now prepare to cringe) I liked the subject of this blog as soon as I seen it. Who teaches kids these days?

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    1. Thanks, Kathy! I think Jimmy's beyond hope, but you never know!

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