Other things that annoy me.
This is directed to our English-speaking audience, and mostly, those in the U.S.: misuse of the English language, in particular, use of pronouns, and further in particular, misuse of pronouns as the object of a preposition.
We are trying SO HARD to sound right, that we are incorrect. I hear it in casual conversation, and I hear it on television broadcasts, and it makes me nuts. Maybe it’s Jim Morrison’s lyric “Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I.” that started it all. Maybe it was happening way before then.
Some examples:
“Susie went to the store with Mike and I.”
It should be “Susie went to the store with Mike and me.” We are trying so hard to not use “me” incorrectly, as in “Me and Mike went to the store with Susie” that we are over-using “I” when it should not be used. Unless your name is “Cookie Monster”.
You wouldn’t say “Susie went to the store with I”, right? You wouldn’t say “Susie went to the store with I and Mike”, would you? So why would anyone say “Susie went to the store with Mike and I”?
Another one that gets me, and Leigh Diffey on NBC race broadcasts does this A LOT, is “between he and …. “ Is English different in Australia to the point grammar is this different? I don’t think so.
Now, I am sure I get plenty wrong when it comes to grammar (likely even in this post), but misuse of pronouns bothers me more than it should.
(Speaking of race coverage, Steve Matchett really needs to stop saying "absolutely". During F1 Countdown pre-race coverage he usually utters the word in the first sentence out of his mouth. I've made a game of it and count. Hungary he said it 27 times in just over two hours. Add in Hobbs using it and it's like fingers on a chalkboard to me (yeah, there's a current reference, eh?). Now that I noticed it I can't NOT notice it.)
Sorry, the 1.5 hour commute to work this morning, double what it is when school is out for the summer, got me in a pissy mood this morning.
---- Edit----
Oooh, wait, one more: car ads that depict a new model cruising down the road, well within its intended usage parameters, apparently at or under the speed limit, doing nothing extraordinary, with a disclaimer on the screen "Professional driver on closed course - do not attempt."
So, what, I'm not supposed to use that model car to go from point A to point B?