Entertainment For Lively Minds
A good simple word
Posted by peterafifer on 11 September 2011 - 10:45pm.
And the word is me. No one seems to use it anymore. It's all myself this and myself that. Also us/ourselves. Is it just to make myself or ourselves sound slightly more sophisticated?
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Me? I?
In either case I prefer the incorrect, but far more commonly used, "Bargepole".
Just to confirm
Still much used up here in the North to provide added emphasis to the first person, as in: "I'm not daft, me."
Oft found in the same sentence as references to 'that London'.
Over to you Uncle George
And yourself...
...as in, 'If I could ask yourself to sign there and there', or 'Will yourself be looking for insurance?'
Drives me nuts...
You beat me to it
Great bugbear of mine. Always used, it seems, by coldcalling telesales people. 'I can do a great deal for yourself'. Grr!
It is because we cannot be sure, I reckon
People know that we should use "I" instead of "me" as it is polite, and also correct, in some circumstances but not all. So, to avoid sounding impolite people use "myself" instead of the 'Me Me Me' sounding "me".
Example:
If you emailed someone to say "please email Caroline and me" it looks like it could be "Caroline and I" (even though you know you wouldn't say "please email I") and a slight panic forms and the compromise is to use "myself". More so when the sentence is longer: "the best thing, in case one of us isn't around tomorrow, is to email Caroline and me". In fact just typing that gives me that panic-feeling as "I" sounds better. In fact I am now not sure! :-)
Or...
..."the best thing, in case one of us isn't around tomorrow, is to email both of us."
As for the 'Me Me Me sounding me', that depends on the context, doesn't it? If people start getting the idea that use of the word 'me' (or 'I', come to that)implies monstrous egotism, who knows where it'll all end?
Probably right
It depends whether you're referring to yourself as the subject or the object of the sentence.
If Caroline and you have sent the email:
"Caroline and I have sent you an email regarding..."
If Caroline and you are to receive the email
"Please email Caroline and me."
The way to see if it's correct is to remove Caroline.
"Please email I" is rubbish as is "Please email myself". "Please email me" is correct, and is far from impolite.
Me
I don't think I'd use any of those options myself.... but then I don't know anyone called Caroline!
Indeed
I noticed "myself" being used a lot on The Apprentice ('Who ordered that load of toot?' "that would have been myself, Sir Alan"). Ironic really given how ME ME ME they all are.