March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!

The other day, I saw a comment on facebook that read, “It’s my girlfriend and I’s anniversary soon.”  What the heck is that?  I’s isn’t even a word.

It might not have been such a big deal if not for the fact that I heard that same error earlier in the week.

People misuse “me” and “I” all of the time, and it drives me nuts!

I get why people confuse “me” and “I.”  It comes from being corrected as children when they used “me” in a compound subject, such as, “Billy and me are going to the park.”

That is wrong, and it’s great that you say “Billy and I” now, except when you say something like, “Johnny is going to the park with Billy and I.”  No, No, No!  It’s “Billy and me”!

Knowing whether to use “I” or “me” is simple.  Just remove the other person from the sentence.  Would you say, “Me is going to the park” or “Johnny is going to the park with I”?  No, so you don’t use those when Billy is with you, either.

Would you say “Next week is I’s anniversary”?  No, you would say “my.”  So it’s “Next week is Bob’s and my anniversary,” not [shudder] “Bob’s and I’s anniversary.”

While we’re at it, let’s talk about “myself.”  It’s very common for people to use “myself” when they should use “me.”  For example, “The report was prepared by Marcy and myself.”  It does seem to have a more polished sound to it, but it is wrong.  Myself is only to be used reflexively, meaning when you are talking about something you did to yourself.  Like, I exposed myself as an idiot when I misused grammar too often.  Any other time, it’s all about me.  So, “The report was prepared by Marcy and me.”

The next time you have something to say about yourself and someone else, stop and think about how you would say it if you were only talking about yourself.  Would you use “I” or “me”?

Try to make the right choice, and never let the I’s have it.

I have a certain sentimentality about the internet, as some of you know, because it was there for me during what would otherwise have been a very isolating time in my life, when I left Christianity.

But, and there always is a but, the internet is killing our language.

Yes, yes, I know that language always evolves over time, but the internet allows that to happen at such a rapid pace, the bad changes, ie the mistakes and misuses, do not have time to get filtered out of the emerging lexicon.

I have a long and ever-growing list of internet language pet peeves, not the least of which is “yay,” but today I am going to focus on begging the question.

In my post the other day about Afghanistan, I closed with:

That raises an obvious question.  Why are we still there, if our actions are not leading to a more peaceful Afghanistan?

The train of thought that I was following raises that question; it does not beg the question.

Why not?

Begging the question is the name of a logical fallacy.  It does not mean to raise a question, or to beg for it to be raised, yet it is often used in that context.

This frequent and unrelenting misuse raises the ire of certain circles, so much so that there is even a website called, Beg the Question: Get It Right.

Is it really such a big deal for language to evolve in this way?  I am of the same school of thought as Grammar Girl on this particular language faux pas.

In fact, that wrong usage is so common some people will argue it’s not an error anymore (7). But I’m firmly in the camp that believes it’s worthwhile to stick to the formal definition. There are plenty of phrases writers can use when they mean “makes me wonder” or “raises the question.” There’s no hole in the English language that needs to be filled, so there’s no reason to use begs the question improperly.

So, what does “beg the question” actually mean?

From The Skeptic’s Dictionary,

Begging the question is what one does in an argument when one assumes what one claims to be proving.

There are several examples, if you follow that link. Here’s one.

The following argument begs the question.

We know God exists because we can see the perfect order of His Creation, an order which demonstrates supernatural intelligence in its design.

The conclusion of this argument is that God exists. The premise assumes a Creator and Designer of the universe exists, i.e., that God exists. In this argument, the arguer should not be granted the assumption that the universe exhibits intelligent design, but should be made to provide support for that claim.

There’s plenty of useful information and examples at all of the above links to help you stop begging the question – or at least stop misusing the phrase.