starrylizard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
starrylizard) wrote2010-07-03 01:59 pm
starrylizard) wrote2010-07-03 01:59 pm
A grammar rant, because I really just have to get it out.
I need to say this. It isn't actually aimed at anyone on my flist. It is aimed at the people at my workplace and on the TV who regularly get this one wrong. I just have to rant.
The use of "myself" in place of "me" is becoming prolific. It occurs regularly in public speaking, on the TV, in parliament and in my workplace. I cringe several times a day over this incorrect usage and I have no where else to rant about it, so:
PLEASE find out the correct use of the word "myself" and learn to use it only when appropriate. It is a reflexive pronoun. It need not replace the word "me" in the English language. It doesn't make you sound smarter. It only serves to make my ears bleed.
An example that I have happily stolen from Grammar Girl.
“Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions.” Bzzzt, incorrect. Try again.
Let's dissect what's wrong with that sentence: "Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions." The simplest way to think of it is like this: How would you say the sentence without Squiggly and the aardvark? Then it usually becomes obvious! You would say, “Please contact me with questions,” not, “Please contact myself with questions.” So when you add in Squiggly and the aardvark, that doesn't change anything. It's still correct to say, “Please contact Squiggly, aardvark, or me with questions.”
Thank you, Grammar Girl.
My grammar is rarely flawless, but I just needed a little rant here. When something starts to bug me, it really starts to bug me and this one is really bugging me. Hopefully now I won't say something career-limiting to my boss... or the HR manager (seriously though, the HR MANAGER *hands*) Heh.
That was cathartic.
*happy sigh* xx
The use of "myself" in place of "me" is becoming prolific. It occurs regularly in public speaking, on the TV, in parliament and in my workplace. I cringe several times a day over this incorrect usage and I have no where else to rant about it, so:
PLEASE find out the correct use of the word "myself" and learn to use it only when appropriate. It is a reflexive pronoun. It need not replace the word "me" in the English language. It doesn't make you sound smarter. It only serves to make my ears bleed.
An example that I have happily stolen from Grammar Girl.
“Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions.” Bzzzt, incorrect. Try again.
Let's dissect what's wrong with that sentence: "Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions." The simplest way to think of it is like this: How would you say the sentence without Squiggly and the aardvark? Then it usually becomes obvious! You would say, “Please contact me with questions,” not, “Please contact myself with questions.” So when you add in Squiggly and the aardvark, that doesn't change anything. It's still correct to say, “Please contact Squiggly, aardvark, or me with questions.”
Thank you, Grammar Girl.
My grammar is rarely flawless, but I just needed a little rant here. When something starts to bug me, it really starts to bug me and this one is really bugging me. Hopefully now I won't say something career-limiting to my boss... or the HR manager (seriously though, the HR MANAGER *hands*) Heh.
That was cathartic.
*happy sigh* xx