Grammar Rants

The I’s Have It http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/opinion/24oconner.html?_r=0

I found an interesting reverse grammar rant in The New York Times.  The article pokes fun at how president Obama one of the most high profile public speakers has been criticized for his hypercorrection of using “I” rather than “me” in the object position of his sentences. O’Conner and Kellerman state, “Since his election, the president has been roundly criticized by bloggers for using “I” instead of “me” in phrases like “a very personal decision for Michelle and I” or “the main disagreement with John and I” or “graciously invited Michelle and I.”  The authors allude to the fact that the president should be punished by having to stand in a corner of the Oval Office. The article goes on to defend the president by quoting Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice with the use of “I” in the object position and saying both the 42^nd and 43^rd presidents were also guilty of the same grammar error. The authors believe this error comes from people being corrected as children when using the word “me” and that makes them think that “I” sounds more appropriate.  I personally have issues with this grammar point.  I use “I” rather than “me” in the subject position of my sentences and find it difficult to change even though people say it is not grammatically correct. The authors think people who they call grammar junkies take proper grammar a little too seriously and that even the most high profile people make these types of errors. The authors jokingly go on to make a suggestion of how Mr. Obama can keep his grammar critics off his back by stating, “If you’re tempted to say “for Michelle and I” in tonight’s speech, just mentally omit Michelle (sorry, Mrs. Obama), and you’ll get it right.”

This was not the only reverse grammar rant I read in The New York Times.  There was also an article by John McWhorter called Good Applicants with Bad Grammar arguing that job applicants who are not being hired for their writing abilities should not be passed by because they use “it’s” rather than “its.” There seems to be a movement happening in opposition to the grammar rant.  I think it would be beneficial to have my students read both types of articles.