Edith,

 

There are attested examples of object forms in compound subjects going back a very, very long time, so it’s certainly not a new phenomenon. Parallel to the system that distinguishes subject and object on the basis of their grammatical function, there’s always been a tendency to use a fast strategy of using “I” at the beginning of a clause, and “me” everywhere else (or even “me” anywhere the pronoun isn’t standing alone immediately before the verb). I’m not sure if “between you and I” is increasing in frequency – I suspect it is, but I know I heard it a fair amount in my youth –  but it’s another longstanding hypercorrection. Of course, students who don’t know what subjects, objects, and prepositions are (I mean “consciously know about” here) lack the means to figure out it’s a hypercorrection, and the shift away from explicit grammar instruction has increased the number of students in that category.

 

What I have noticed as being relatively recent is the proliferation of “myself” forms in the same contexts, perhaps as a midpoint in the “correction-hypercorrection” scale (recognizing that “I/me” s a potential problem and using a third option to try to dodge it).

 

Bill Spruiell

Dept. of English

Central Michigan University

 

 

Here are some questions for the group from a colleague. I think they fall in the recent-history-of-the-language category:

) Was there a specific period in the last 30-40 years where "people" began

to notice a proliferation of "me" used in the subject - especially compound

subjects ("John and me will be late") and began an "education campaign" to

correct it?  If so, how did the "word" get out (newspaper articles, word of

mouth, increased emphasis in K-12/college) that people needed to be more

conscious/clean up this part of their grammar?

B) Is there any opinion or evidence that a sudden realization of the

improper use of "me" instead of "I" in compound subjects led (via

overcorrection or other means) to the seemingly recent proliferation of the

use of "I" in a compound (or even singular) form in the indirect

object/subject of the preposition? Eg: "The chocolate cake was a surprise

for my sister and me."

C) Any concrete examples of this overcorrection making its way into

mainstream media (Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Larry King, Oprah, etc.)?

My own take on this is I started hearing “between you and I” from even highly educated people in the 80s. I attributed it to hypercorrection mixed with a lack of grammar instruction that would have cued people to know when to use the objective and when the subjective. It’s been in this decade that I’ve heard the I moving to the indirect object and to the objective of prep and subject of infinitive places when it is a compound and even sometimes when it is not a compound.

Edith Wollin

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