The "I"s Have It

By the time you read this, it may already be too late.  It is possible that there is nothing any of us can do at this point.  No, this is not about political turmoil in Egypt or the fact that China now controls more than 90% of the worlds  current supply of rare-earth metals.  This is about the near universal acceptance of the nominative case "I" for the objective case "me".  Who knows why many people are fine in the singular but throw in a compound subject and supposedly literate people begin to flounder around like, well, flounder.  No ear for language?  Too much texting?  The death of William Safire?   Whatever the explanation, this misuse has reached epidemic proportions in recent years.

A couple of examples of incorrect usage of the nominative I with compound subjects: "Thank you so much for having Lulu and I down for the weekend," should be "...Lulu and me down for the weekend."  "Here is a picture of Lulu and I in St. Kitts," should be "...Lulu and me in St. Kitts."

While we know, that our readers are both mannerly and scholarly, possibly, if you know of anyone who knows anyone for whom the following tip might prove useful, please pass it along.  Before it's too late.

The tip is this, dear friend of a friend of our reader:  just pretend you are making a singular statement then stick your friend, partner, roommate, relation, or nemesis right in front.

For example: "I went to St. Barths,"  becomes "Lulu and I went to St. Barths."  Or "Thank you for inviting me to St. Barths." becomes "Thank you for inviting Lulu and me to St. Barths." Not, not, not "Thank you for inviting Lulu and I to St. Barths."  One more, "Granny took me to the theater"  becomes "Granny took Lulu and me to the theater"  not "Granny took Lulu and I to the theater."  

Good luck out there.  Be strong in the face of bad grammar.  Elizabeth and I thank you.  Please let Elizabeth and me know how you get on.

photo of 9th grade grammar textbook from Amazon