The than I/than me debate: MN jury required!

[IAmSherlocked]

Bob is more knowledgeable than I.

or

Bob is more knowledgeable than me?

I used the first version yesterday and was corrected by someone who said it should be the second. If I google it, there seems to be no consensus of opinion. While the general feeling is that the former is grammatically correct, the latter is becoming accepted usage.

Opinions, please! and please agree with me because the person I was arguing with is really smug and needs to be taken down a peg or two

i am sarah, right?
so bob is fatter than sarah.

but sarah is me, so bob is fatter than me.

Oh cock, and now I've written "of of" :o

no they don't quite say the same thing... i think

One is comparing Bob's fatness to my fatness
One is comparing Bob's fatness to me

nickel you've lost me :o

Right
Bob's handwriting is neater than mine
Bob's handwriting is neater than my handwriting is neat

not sure what I'm proving here...bear with me

I think you're trying to find sample sentences without a third person in. I hope so, anyway, because it means I won't have to :)

Third person?

A third individual, I mean.

But there isn't a third person in any of these sentences, other than nickel's much-adored sarah

the third person is bob or him.
(that's the correct term for he/she/it)

If it was a question, would it be:

Bob is fatter than who?
OR
Bob is fatter than whom?

that's what I thought Northey was talking about
But but but

another person, you mean?
exactly, that was my point.

Bob is more knowledgeable than me.

or Bob knows more than i do.

Sloppy use of language on my part - sorry.

whom.

Someone please explain to me in relatively simple terms how "Bob likes Sarah more than I" can be correct. It doesn't even make sense to me. Does Bob like Sarah more than he likes me, or does Bob like Sarah more than I do?
Aaaargh.

So surely it's "Bob is fatter than me" then

AHA

I have come down firmly on one side, and think I see what nickel was saying

I think it's I

because if it's me, you're saying "Bob is more knowledgeable" than "Bob is me". The two parts of the sentence are constructed differently.

Well , in the sentences where the verb is "to be", there can only ever be a nominative complement anyway, which muddies the picture a bit when trying to explain why it should be nominative in other situations too.

Oh God, that's as clear as mud, isn't it?

exactly PBB - they are saying different things

Bob is more knowledgeable than sociable

That works

Right, now I'm trying to think of a non-"to be" example, without 3 people...

Bugsy, the two different things they are saying are :
Bob likes Sarah more than [he likes] me.
Bob likes Sarah more than I [like Sarah].