Common wisdom dictates that if a grammatical “mistake” becomes common enough, it is no longer a mistake. The rules of grammar are supposedly adapted to real-world usage. Real-world usage aside, the widespread use of “me and so-and-so” in our culture drives me nuts!
It used to be, “George and I went to the store.” In the old days of about 30 years ago, if someone said, “George and I went to the store,” the listener would calmly conclude that the speaker was a little slow. Today, you turn on the television and the newscaster says, “Me and … blah, blah, blah.” Radio announcers say so. Even educated people like lawyers and public accountants have embraced the “me and my client” culture.
You know what is even scarier? I have intentionally included the “George and I” error and other grammatical mishaps in this article and checked it with Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar checker. Guess what? It didn’t even catch the bugs!
Is this sloppy grammar just the product of a narcissistic “me, me, me” culture? Are we going foolish? Or am I way behind and going dumb as a result because I’m not using real world usage?
Frankly, many years have passed since I suffered during a semester of grammar class. I can see or hear what is wrong with a sentence, but I don’t know what the error is called specifically. So here’s the common sense and practical rule of thumb as I’ve understood it since second grade:
Bring out the third person and see if the sentence makes sense. If you’re saying “George and I went to the store,” keep George away and try this: “I went to the store.” Sounds ridiculous, huh? Rather, divide the appropriate form and we have “George went to the store” and “I went to the store.” You can do this with a variety of sentences to easily find out what makes the most grammatical sense.
Common sense aside, those of us who are offended by the constant grammar of “me and so-and-so” can at least take comfort in the fact that variations of pronouns like “he and I went to the store” or “she and I went to the store” has yet to soar to the top of the common use charts.
Now that this irritant is off my chest, I go to the store. Maybe George wants to go too.
