Me, Myself and I – They are not one in the same
It is one of those moments that makes me close my eyes and inhale deeply–an intelligent, educated professional inserts the word “myself” in a sentence where the word “me” should have been used.
“My colleagues and myself attended the event.”
Breathe, Paula.
I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point in the past five years the misuse–as well as the tolerance of the misuse–has reached epic proportions.
While “me,” “myself,” and “I’ all describe one individual, “moi,” each has its own proper place in a sentence.
Just in case you are finding yourself using “myself” instead of “me,” here is the rule, according to Merriam-Webster:
[Myself should only be used in two circumstances: as a reflective pronoun, as in "I burned myself while pulling the cake out of the oven," or for emphasis: "I made the cake myself."]
Under no circumstances is it proper English to say, “John, Mary and myself went to the event.” The proper use is “John, Mary and I went to the event.” My elementary English teacher reminded me to take out the other people and read the sentence: “I went to the store.”
Sometimes the words “me” and “I” get used incorrectly. For example, “He gave directions to John, Mary and I.” Read the sentence without the other people: “He gave directions to I.” It doesn’t work. The correct sentence is: “He gave directions to John, Mary and me.” “He gave directions to me.”
As a person who is a bit of an English language geek, I often find myself (that’s the proper use there) wondering how the breakdown occurred. Are we moving kids through primary grades with only adequate English language skills? Are English education majors held accountable for being experts in the language before they are placed in classrooms? People have such short attention spans that the use of acronyms for everything (LOL, TLDR, OMG!), and the omission of commas (don’t even get me started on that one), are now acceptable in many forms of communication beyond text messages.
I realize too much damage has been done over the past decade to get the entire country back on track using proper English, but I hope that If you are one of those who is misusing the word, “myself,” you will now recognize it, make an effort to correct it ,and perhaps teach one other person the proper usage. I know I can’t accomplish this goal by myself, LOL!
If you are one who cringes at grammar gaffes, you might enjoy this article NPR published, The NPR Grammar Hall of Shame.