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Pedants' corner
Original poster

Use of 'myself', 'himself' etc.

26 replies

tearinghairout · 23/02/2010 11:48

Am I right in thinking that these are only ever used reflexively, as in 'I wash myself' and 'Fred should push himself to work harder in lessons'.

Am looking at school reports (as you may have guessed) and have found a plethora of 'Myself and the teaching assistants are here to help' and suchlike.

I would substitute 'me', but, in the above example, 'me and the teaching assistants' sounds a bit... common wrong, along the lines of 'Me and Fred are ...', which I know should be 'Fred and I' but DYSWIM?

OP posts:
Original poster
tearinghairout · 23/02/2010 11:56

Ouch! Have just realised that 'Me and the teaching assistants' should also, of course, be 'I..'

Question still stands about whether use of 'myself' is OK or not when not used reflexively.

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MrsBadger · 23/02/2010 12:01

no, imo

People know that 'Me and the teaching assisstants are here to help' sounds wrong, but think they can fix it by using 'myself' rather than correcting it to 'The teaching assistants and I are here to help'.

PrettyCandles · 23/02/2010 12:08

I think you are right, they are using 'myself' incorrectly in your example.

Original poster
tearinghairout · 23/02/2010 12:17

Interesting point Mrs Badger. As an editor I was taught to approach writing with 'If it's wrong, change it'. So sometimes I find it hard to be flexible.

What do you think about 'Fred should ask myself for help'? I would change to 'ask me' - would you?

If the old teaching asistants are there too, we get 'ask myself or the TAs...'. Which presumably you would you find OK?

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 23/02/2010 13:05

no no I am right with you, tis def for reflexive use only

I was trying to pinpoint why people often get it wrong

Original poster
tearinghairout · 23/02/2010 19:37

Phew! That's OK then! Thanks.

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MarionCole · 23/02/2010 19:42

This really irritates me.

"If you have any queries please call myself".

Grrr.

WingedVictory · 23/02/2010 21:57

They probably think it sounds more educated - bein' a bigger word, an' all. A bit like saying "He's the one whom is replacing me during my maternity leave?" Argh.

campion · 23/02/2010 22:24

It's used when people don't know whether I or me is correct. Or perhaps they think it sounds more ... err... caring.

I'm particularly when I see it on our staffroom noticeboard.

Is it as bad / worse than ' please have a word with Agapantha or I', the other favourite?

Teachers, eh?

SpeedyGonzalez · 23/02/2010 22:28

I cannot stand this bizarre use of 'myself' either. Or 'yourself' - as in: "Is it just yourself who'll be looking to use the car?"

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

assumetheposition · 23/02/2010 22:31

This drives me insane ...... no it doesn't make you sound clever, you just sound like a mook .

WingedVictory · 24/02/2010 14:46

What does "mook" mean, assumetheposition? I once met someone with that surname, and would not like to think it was an insult. Poor guy!

Original poster
tearinghairout · 24/02/2010 20:06

I love you lot
Peasants' Pedants' corner is where I come when I feel the world is against me. Only amongst others who rant over 'Five items or less', and similar, do I feel at home. My dch say things like 'would of' just to wind me up, the loves.

So what is a mook, then?

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assumetheposition · 24/02/2010 20:09

I refer you to the urban dictionary here

However, in our house, it's just another word for an idiot, albeit a harmless one.

SPBInDisguise · 24/02/2010 20:13

reflexive and to emphasise a point
So "The Queen herself inspected the troops" is also correct
I hate the use where it should just be me, you, "So, I'll give yourself a ring on Tuesday"

SPBInDisguise · 24/02/2010 20:14

obv should be "you" in that...it's late, myself is tired

Original poster
tearinghairout · 25/02/2010 19:27

Assume - that link lists one of its meanings as 'knucklehead' A much under-used expression imo and more descriptive than mook!

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Lemonmeringue · 25/02/2010 22:22

I think it's sometimes considered to be a posh way to say 'I' or 'he', etc., on the grounds that words with two syllables are better than mere monosyllables.

WingedVictory · 26/02/2010 13:45

Ah, but, SPBInDisguise, you raised another point of pedantry. Who here says "telephone to"?

On a slightly related matter, I remember Miss Marple's comenting that her maidservant confused matters when she left notes about people who "called": confused, because the maidservant had form for using "called" (i.e. stopped by) rather than "telephoned"!

Ahhhh....

WebDude · 02/03/2010 09:17

WV - "the one whom is replacing me"

gets me off at a tangent to journalists (yes, even on the BBC!) who often confuse 'who' and 'which' when talking about staff or companies in disputes, etc.

WingedVictory · 02/03/2010 14:23

Journalists : "scribblers" who've become typists... .

Speaking of this, has anyone heard the putdown of Jack Kerouac (I can't remember by whom) : "That's not writing; that's typing."

unclefester77 · 20/05/2011 18:14

Oh, my sister was corrected at work by her boss for writing 'My colleague and I.' Her boss said 'I presume you mean myself and my colleague' and she said no, if I'd wanted to write it ungrammatically that's what I would have said. She works in the judiciary....

EricNorthmansMistress · 01/06/2011 22:22

Unclefester that's a brilliant retort :)

chateauferret · 02/07/2011 15:59

Use of "-self" as a pronoun for the subject of a sentence is common in Scottish usage and comes about from the influence of Gaelic, in which the equivalent usage "Is mise" ('mise' the emphatic form of 'mi') is idiomatic. But that is an emphatic form, not a reflexive one, so it's still wrong.

moondog · 02/07/2011 16:01

It is really thick.
Beloved of pompous policemen.