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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    462

    Teachers, what's going on?

    Here's an article I thought was interesting....
    "There’s a reason using a period in a text message makes you sound angry"
    http://qz.com/1169792/theres-a-reaso...u-sound-angry/

    Now that I got your attention, I think there were some very bad teachers somewhere around 12-20 years ago, who were so bad at the English language that they started teaching it wrong. I'm talking about I versus me.

    First off, away from an academic/professional setting is it just me or is this correct?

    1. if the academically correct word is I, it's okay to use me instead cuz it sounds fine and informal...
    "Me and Julio are down by the schoolyard" is how people chit chat. The academically correct sentence would of course be "Julio and I are down by the schoolyard" but nobody cares cuz the former sounds better.

    2. if the academically correct word is me, me should always be used...
    Nobody would ever say "This is a photo of I" but all the time idiots say "This is a photo of Julio and I". I think somewhere along the line more than half of all teachers got confused about this and started teaching their poor students that when in doubt use I. This really ticks me off!

    So what's going on? Is my theory correct, that they were actually teaching it wrong? It's so ubiquitous I think that's the only explanation.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    37ft above the hood
    Posts
    16,576
    Parents are responsible for most grammar lessons
    Zone Controller

    "He wants to be a pro, bro, not some schmuck." - Hugh Conway

    "DigitalDeath would kick my ass. He has the reach of a polar bear." - Crass3000

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Portland by way of Bozeman
    Posts
    4,279
    Things in life make much, much more sense if you just keep repeating this simple fact; "people ruin everything."

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    27,372
    The rule of thumb is pretty simple, too. Get rid of Julio in your examples and see whether "me" or "I" makes more sense. It seems like if teachers just taught that most people would get it right.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    9,300ft
    Posts
    22,002
    Me fail engrish? That unpossible.
    Quote Originally Posted by blurred
    skiing is hiking all day so that you can ski on shitty gear for 5 minutes.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Central OR
    Posts
    5,963
    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcat Sig View Post
    Things in life make much, much more sense if you just keep repeating this simple fact; "people ruin everything."
    This is the universal salve; apply to every problem.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Impossible to knowl--I use an iPhone
    Posts
    13,150
    Quote Originally Posted by The AD View Post
    The rule of thumb is pretty simple, too. Get rid of Julio in your examples and see whether "me" or "I" makes more sense. It seems like if teachers just taught that most people would get it right.
    Yeah, subjective/objective case is actually pretty simple, but idiomatically we accept a lot of 'incorrect' usage. The fact is that a lot of teachers (even English teachers) regularly use and write pronouns in the 'wrong' case (scare quotes because language exists as it is spoken, not as the rules dictate, but that's a much, much longer discussion).

    Shakespeare: Woe is me ("Woe Is I" is the title of a pretty good book focusing on these sorts of grammar issues).
    [quote][//quote]

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    462
    language exists as it is spoken, not as the rules dictate
    Yes. I'm gonna start tending to text more like the OP article's informal examples.

    Looks like that book has a website
    Student athlete postgame interview = Communications major
    Dumb boss example (I think he had a dumb teacher)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    da eskalaterz
    Posts
    1,200
    Knock knock

    Who's there?

    To

    To who?

    TO WHOM!!!

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