Warning:
I’m about to get on my high horse about grammar. I’m not claiming I use grammar
perfectly whenever I speak or write, but thanks primarily to my mother and Mr.
Beck (a great English teacher from Milbank - a little weird, but great), I get it right most of the time.
That
said, I have a pet peeve I’d like to share with you that can prevent you from
sounding like an idiot.
Kids are raised to never say “me”, mainly because they’re using it in the wrong
context. Does this sound familiar?
“Jake
and me are going to the pool!” “No,
dear. Jake and I
are going to the pool.”
And so
it continues all through childhood. We get to the point where “Me” = BAD
so we stop using it.
And
what has replaced it? “Myself”.
It’s disgusting. I once read an email that ended in “If you have any
questions, please get back to myself”. What?! That doesn’t make a lick of
sense.
People
even use it to replace “I”.
“Jake
and myself are going to the pool!”
“That’s nice, honey. Don’t forget to take
sunscreen. Bring it back to myself when you’re done.” “Myself” doesn’t belong in either of those sentences.
“Myself” is reflexive, meaning you’re doing something to yourself. “I put
sunscreen on myself.”
So
here are a few hints for you:
1) If
there’s an “and” right before “myself”, it’s probably wrong. It should most
likely be “me” or “I” in that location.
“Jake
and I are going to the pool.”
2) How
can you tell which one it should be? Can your replace the “_____ and myself”
with “we” or “us”? If it’s “we”, use “I”. If it’s “us”, use “me”.
Grammar
is a huge part of presentations. Anyone that uses grammar improperly in front
of an intelligent audience looses credibility instantly.
And all audiences are intelligent, or
at least you should assume so, but that’s a topic for another time.