Good letter. When people say "I" instead of "me" or vice versa, they just don't understand the difference between a subject and an object of a verb or preposition.

People frequently say "Just between you and I" even though "me" would be correct because it's the object of a preposition. Following the letter-writer's logic, no one would say "Just between we" but would instead say "Just between us". "Us" and "me" are objects.

Maybe you all can stop English from changing?

No one cares about this. This isn't English class.

Another major mistake many educated people, including tv commentators, make is the misuse of "myself." Example--"She gave it to myself." The correct form is "She gave it to me." Don't use the self/selves form of the pronoun unless it refers back to the subject. In the example above, it would ber correct to say, "She gave it to herself," as the reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject. It would be correct to say, "I gave it to myself." But "myslef" referring back to "she" is an egregious error!

the one I love is when I is used in possessive form, such as: "She will be riding in my wife and I's car."

Thank you to the Writer. Proper grammar is becoming a lost art. It's still very important. You are right about many journalists not know how to speak properly. It is AMAZING!

My favorite part of english class was the diagraming of sentences. Now as I sometimes help my grandkids with their homework, I often wonder why the schools stopped teaching it. It often helps me to put the proper word in the proper place.

One of my pet peaves is the use of the phrase, "could care less" when one really means, "couldn't care less". To say, "I could care less" really means that you care, at least somewhat, about the subject; but to say, "I couldn't care less" means that you care so little, there is no room left for any less caring.

I totally agree! The "I could care less" drives me nuts!!!

Soneone should care. No it isn't Englis class, but if you are a published writer or radio or television commentator, you lose credibility with poor grammar and help train up another generation of people who can't seem to get it right. Some of us do care, and I believe you are judged by your ability to speak intelligently.

What do you think about text messaging? I get lots of it at times from my nieces and nephews and I've often wonder if it's affecting the way they write in school. Acronyms, they drive me crazy at times.....LOL!!

One of my pet peeves is people who spell it "peaves."

Even Cats not know how to speak properly!

The difference between I and Me has been confused since the Middle Ages when English nouns dropped their case structure. Even Shakespeare mixed them up, so don't get your breeches in a twist.

At the end of the day, it won't mean anything to explain subjects and predicates. People can't and don't process like that when they're speaking. They just tend to repeat what they've heard. It's the nature of language: repetitious exposure becomes production. Rules make little or no difference.

But I have to say amen to the premise and to the follow-up comments about "I could care less." Funny or annoying, depending on my mood at the time. But in the end, I have to remind myself to lighten up and forget it. It really doesn't matter much, unless I'm hiring an English teacher or an editor.

re: pet peeves. I stand corrected.

Sorry about that. I had an editing error. I'm human and I make mistakes, but I still know what proper grammar is. I also agree about "I could care less." Of course, it should be "I COULDN'T care less." Another one that drives me nuts is "irregardless." There's no such word.

Again thanks to the writer. Proper grammar is very important.

I agree with the use of "I" and "could care less" as problems. It makes us sound uneducated and is a sympton of the dumbing down of America.

My pet peeve is the use of "myriad". Everyone thinks it makes them sound so well-read, but it is misused almost universally.

The correct usage is "myriad" by itself, not "myriad of"...think of myriad as meaning "many of". So "I have myriad pet peeves" means I have many pet peeves but "I have myriad of pet peeves" of even worse "I have a myriad of pet peeves" means literally "I have many of of pet peeves" or "I have a many of of pet peeves".

I think maybe people are getting "myriad" confused with "plethora" which is correctly used as "a plethora of".

Another bad one is "irregardless", which means quite literally without without regard, or WITH regard...just like could care less, it says opposite of what is intended...but this one's now in the dictionary!

Some would argue this is just evolution of language. I argue that this is laziness and the dumbing down of our children in our public schools, and through what they hear adults say all around them.

To Chad: Great comments!

How about all of those people that take something out of the freezer to "unthaw" it?

re: Cats: you're wrong.

"Irregardless" is a real word, and it means the same thing as "regardless" (look at the merriam webster definition - it has a little bit of the etymology). "Regardless" is preferred, however. I know because I won a bet about that one! It's like "flammable" and "inflammable." Why do those two words have the same meaning? The English language is mysterious!

But seriously, people, if you are going to make a comment on this subject, maybe you should first run your post through a spell/grammar-check. That is, unless you are trying to be ironic. Then it okay with I.

Hey 'PhD in English', I'm putting together a writing lesson plan right now (not quite PhD level), and I heartily second your opinion.

Rules are all very well, but the true test of the utility of language is its effectiveness with its audience. It is pointless to follow grammatical rules to the detriment of style, grace, clarity, or comprehensibility.

For example, to use Chad's illustration, if a speaker said "I have a myriad pet peeves", rather than the less proper "myriad OF pet peeves", he would probably create a little confusion in the minds of his audience. I suppose it depends upon motivation: if you're an English crusader then you'd use the "correct" construction, audience confusion be darned. But I think most people speaking to other people under any circumstance want to be clear and effective communicators, in which case, the "incorrect" construction would be advisable.

That's the fun of language though, especially English. You've got to know the rules and also know when to break them.

Time for my pet peeve!
It's "would've," "could've," "should've," NOT "would of," "could of," "should of"

So true. "I" vs. "Me" depends on the rhetorical situation. Imagine the football coach shouting, "Who dropped that ball?" and the player responding, "It was I, Coach!" That player would probably get certain parts of his uniform stuffed in his mouth.

What football player would admit to dropping the ball if he knew his coach would yell at him?

Anyway, what drives me nuts is people (supposedly professional technical writers) who can't tell the difference between a verb and a noun. For example:

Setup is a noun. Set up is a verb. They are not interchangeable. You cannot say, "I'm going to setup my computer." Instead you should say, "I'm going to set up my computer." If you want to use the word setup, you could say something like, "I like this computer's setup."

Now, back to work, everybody!

Yes, texting has affected some students. In my college English classes, I have had (fortunately only occasionally) students become upset when I mark their texting-style writing in their formal papers and tell them that it is inappropriate. They think that I am old fashioned and refuse to recognize that it is necessary to write in a more formal manner on some occasions. (They usually disappear part way through the course.) Audience determines style.

Back to the original topic: Those supposedly educated people who misuse me, I, myself, could of, etc. in formal settings really do lose credibility. It doesn't bother me when my tree trimmer talks like that; however, I am bothered when professional journalists etc. speak or write that way when they are in formal situations.

To Hold On: I know that "irregardless" is in the dictionary. So is "Disenfranchised." (The proper word is "disfranchsed.") Just because a word is in the dictionary doesn't mean it is a legitimate word. The dictionary is really just a record of the words that are being used. "Aint" is also in the dictionary. That doesn't mean it is a legitimate word or that it is proper usage of the language.

Just thought I'd point that out. But, thanks for your comment. You are right about some words being in the dictionary whether they are legitimate or not.

Just a symptom of our failing educational system. Inability to express one's self effectively is followed closely by errors in logic. Adequate fund of knowledge now longer seems to have the same importance it once had. Where did we go wrong, that it now seems to be cool to be so dumb?

My wife and I think that people worry too much about what me rights in the papers.