undefined | Better HN

0 pointsrjknight12y ago0 comments

It's not really valid, but it's not uncommon either. It's something that would sound unremarkable in speech but looks quite bad when written down.

0 comments

robinson-wall12y ago

It's perfectly valid. "X and I" is only valid if the sentence makes sense if you only used "I".

This article makes one valid use of "me and X":

> in an effort to score extra points with me and Carl.

If you changed that to "Carl and I" then took out Carl it would be "to score extra points with I", which is disturbing and wrong.

valleyer12y ago

Notice that I said "as the subject of a sentence". It certainly works in the single case you chose. How about these:

"… and me and Carl were quietly trying to weigh up which team …" "Me and Carl had a winner and …" "During the excercise me and a colleague, Carl, made ourselves available …"

ddeck12y ago

Yes, those are incorrect. Perhaps it's just because I'm not located in the UK, but it really stands out for me. Those, the lack of periods and phrases such as:

>and thinked the way most of the team already worked and thought

1 more reply

rjknightOP12y ago

Aha, you appear to be correct. This might be a case of linguistic prejudice then - the mistake of saying "me" when "I" is appropriate is considered to be a sign of miseducation, whereas few people ever make the mistake of saying "I" when they mean "me", so it has not acquired any negative connotations. This prejudice applies even when the usage of "me" is correct!

jaredsohn12y ago

Shouldn't it be "Carl and me"? I thought there were two rules for these phrases: subject vs. predicate (as illustrated in the parent post) and that you should put yourself last.

hso979112y ago

That you put yourself last is a question of modesty, not grammar :)

1 more reply

gringofyx12y ago

I like to read what I write aloud as a sense check before submitting it - nothing stood out immediately. My wife often tells me my (written) English is terrible.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

robinson-wall12y ago

It's perfectly valid. "X and I" is only valid if the sentence makes sense if you only used "I".

This article makes one valid use of "me and X":

> in an effort to score extra points with me and Carl.

If you changed that to "Carl and I" then took out Carl it would be "to score extra points with I", which is disturbing and wrong.

valleyer12y ago

Notice that I said "as the subject of a sentence". It certainly works in the single case you chose. How about these:

"… and me and Carl were quietly trying to weigh up which team …" "Me and Carl had a winner and …" "During the excercise me and a colleague, Carl, made ourselves available …"

ddeck12y ago

Yes, those are incorrect. Perhaps it's just because I'm not located in the UK, but it really stands out for me. Those, the lack of periods and phrases such as:

>and thinked the way most of the team already worked and thought

1 more reply

rjknightOP12y ago

jaredsohn12y ago

Shouldn't it be "Carl and me"? I thought there were two rules for these phrases: subject vs. predicate (as illustrated in the parent post) and that you should put yourself last.

hso979112y ago

That you put yourself last is a question of modesty, not grammar :)

1 more reply

gringofyx12y ago

I like to read what I write aloud as a sense check before submitting it - nothing stood out immediately. My wife often tells me my (written) English is terrible.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse