Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Most Annoying Grammar Mistakes


1. "Between you and I." 

It's ME, dammit -- ME ME ME. Would you say, "Between she and they"? Of course not. So do you realize you sound like an IDIOT when you follow "between" with the subject "I" instead of the object "me"? 

2. "Companies who . . . " 

It's "companies THAT." "W ho" refers to people, not things. So don't come to me with tales of companies "who" care/make money/give back/etc. Not until you correct your grammar, anyway. 

3. "Feel free to contact myself or So-and-So." 

This is a standard closing sentence to company memos. For the record, "myself" is reflexive -- as in, "I asked myself why I was working for a company that, between you and me, accepts less than operational excellence." 

Here is an example of the correct way to use "myself."

2 comments:

Goody 2 Shoes said...

Email has lowered the standards for grammar. Students studying English as a second language learn who/whom used as an object are interchangeable. Fact is, most native English speakers from the US have no idea of a difference between the two, except perhaps that "whom" sounds "better".

Are you doing a Halloween blog today, Joan? Seems like your namesake would appreciate that...

Unknown said...

Ugh. And how about "different than" instead of "different from?" Or "the reason why is because" as opposed to "The reason is" or "This is because"?

Then there's "affect" vs. "effect" (don't get me started), though even correct usage will never redeem this old favorite from the fbi website: "It is the difference effected in the man who inquires of the activity of two stonecutters on the side of the road, and learns from one that he is cutting stone, and from the other, that he is building a church...."