Fortune’s Stanley Bing is a funny guy. He begins his tirade on grammar with a 60-word sentence. Then he loads paragraphs of his “While You Were Out” page with grammatical no-nos, many of which are found in email he receives.
Here are some of the misuses of the language that grate on his nerves.
You and I or you and me? Use ‘You and I’ when you are the subject: You and I should have lunch. (You wouldn’t say, ‘Me should have lunch!’) Use ‘You and me’ when you are the direct object: The boss called you and me. (You wouldn’t say, ‘The boss called I.’)
Interchanging “their,” “there” and “they’re.” Correct: They’re (they are) having their lunch over there.
The difference between its and it’s. Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of it: Nice car. I like its color. It’s means ‘it is.’Â It’s my favorite.
Using “myself” instead of “me.” This rankles Bing and annoys a lot of his readers as well. If he could send a message to everyone, people would not write such things as, “For any problem, contact Ruth or myself.” Just say ‘me.’ If you want to know when to use ‘myself’ look up ‘reflexive pronouns.’ You will be proud of yourself!
Bing (and there are many others like him) notices that young men are often guilty of referring to other men as “dude,” and saying “No problem” in response to “Thank You.” Some will mutter “Yo” in the elevator to others.
Bing counsels against correcting the offender. They won’t like it and may not even believe their grammar is poor. All you can do speak correctly yourself.