Grammar?
I'm all about evolution of language. Don't get me wrong. I'm actually becoming okay with the phrase "begs the question" to be a literal statement meaning "leads to the question" instead of its original meaning having to do with a logical fallacy. I'm okay with Alanis Morissette's definition of ironic. I'm even okay with the words "Irregardless" meaning "Regardless" and "Literally" meaning, well not literally. However, there are a few grammar and word things that I'm not okay with that still cause me to cringe every time I hear them used.
One of them has been cropping up all over the place lately. It's the phrase "you and I". It's a fairly innocent phrase that one uses when they are talking about him or herself and the person they are talking to. However, due to what I think is insane schooling for my generation, people are using the phrase "you and I" when they actually mean "you and me". What's the difference you may ask? Well unfortunately the word "you" can be used as both the subject and the object of a sentence. So using you anywhere is pretty much okay. However, the word "I" is used when one is talking about him or herself as the subject of a sentence or a phrase. The word "me" is used when one is talking about him or herself as the object of a sentence of phrase. Easy, right? The easiest way to know if you are using the right version is to remove the "you and" part of the phrase and see whether or not the sentence makes sense.
One place I noticed this recently was on the TV show, "Glee". I love the show, don't get me wrong. I'm not going to stop watching it due to the use of this phrase. I will cringe and wonder how people who clearly have no idea about the fundamentals of the English language have manage to become television writers, but that is another issue in itself. At the end of the Season 2 finale, Santana asks Brittany, "What about you and I?" It's a very short phrase. If you remove the "you and" part, the question becomes, "What about I?" Clearly, this is very bad. The correct sentence should be, "What about you and me?" It's not even a complicated sentence to figure out what the right use of I/me is. But to add insult to injury, Brittany answers her in the exact same way: "All I know about you and I is that..." Would someone really start a sentence with "All I know about I is that"? No, definitely not. To be fair, Britanny might be stupid enough to not know how to use the correct phrasing, but the "Glee" writers probably shouldn't be.
On my way to work this morning, I was listening to the new Lady Gaga album. Two songs really stuck out for me, "You and I" and "Edge of Glory". First in "You and I", Lady Gaga sings "yeah something about baby you and I." Clearly the correct phrase here is you and me. You wouldn't say "something about I" in every day language, but here is Lady Gaga singing it. Not only does she sing it there, she then continues to repeat "you and I" over and over again. Not only has she used the wrong phrase, she's singing it over and over again, and it's the title of her song. The real funny part is in the next song "Edge of Glory" when she sings "there ain't no reason you and me should be alone." Should a person say "there ain't no reason me should be alone"? Not really. In fact, the correct usage here should actually be "you and I". So not only does Lady Gaga manage to screw up "you and I", she also manages to screw up "you and me". It's pretty impressive to be completely oblivious to that sort of thing.
Anyway, no one probably cares about this stuff but me. I just have heard such a slaughter of these phrases in the past few weeks that I really felt the need to vent about it.
One of them has been cropping up all over the place lately. It's the phrase "you and I". It's a fairly innocent phrase that one uses when they are talking about him or herself and the person they are talking to. However, due to what I think is insane schooling for my generation, people are using the phrase "you and I" when they actually mean "you and me". What's the difference you may ask? Well unfortunately the word "you" can be used as both the subject and the object of a sentence. So using you anywhere is pretty much okay. However, the word "I" is used when one is talking about him or herself as the subject of a sentence or a phrase. The word "me" is used when one is talking about him or herself as the object of a sentence of phrase. Easy, right? The easiest way to know if you are using the right version is to remove the "you and" part of the phrase and see whether or not the sentence makes sense.
One place I noticed this recently was on the TV show, "Glee". I love the show, don't get me wrong. I'm not going to stop watching it due to the use of this phrase. I will cringe and wonder how people who clearly have no idea about the fundamentals of the English language have manage to become television writers, but that is another issue in itself. At the end of the Season 2 finale, Santana asks Brittany, "What about you and I?" It's a very short phrase. If you remove the "you and" part, the question becomes, "What about I?" Clearly, this is very bad. The correct sentence should be, "What about you and me?" It's not even a complicated sentence to figure out what the right use of I/me is. But to add insult to injury, Brittany answers her in the exact same way: "All I know about you and I is that..." Would someone really start a sentence with "All I know about I is that"? No, definitely not. To be fair, Britanny might be stupid enough to not know how to use the correct phrasing, but the "Glee" writers probably shouldn't be.
On my way to work this morning, I was listening to the new Lady Gaga album. Two songs really stuck out for me, "You and I" and "Edge of Glory". First in "You and I", Lady Gaga sings "yeah something about baby you and I." Clearly the correct phrase here is you and me. You wouldn't say "something about I" in every day language, but here is Lady Gaga singing it. Not only does she sing it there, she then continues to repeat "you and I" over and over again. Not only has she used the wrong phrase, she's singing it over and over again, and it's the title of her song. The real funny part is in the next song "Edge of Glory" when she sings "there ain't no reason you and me should be alone." Should a person say "there ain't no reason me should be alone"? Not really. In fact, the correct usage here should actually be "you and I". So not only does Lady Gaga manage to screw up "you and I", she also manages to screw up "you and me". It's pretty impressive to be completely oblivious to that sort of thing.
Anyway, no one probably cares about this stuff but me. I just have heard such a slaughter of these phrases in the past few weeks that I really felt the need to vent about it.