Me and Him Are Killing English!

All Aboard the Tim Tebow Bandwagon: He’s Not a ‘Me and Him’ Talker; Tim Knows His Pronouns!

2012-01-13T08:22:00.004-10:00

We’d be crazy if we didn’t grab a strap on this rocket. The hottest athlete in America today knows his pronouns!

Tim Tebow stands apart from his sports contemporaries in many ways, and you can add his respect for the language to the list.

Our book – Me and Him Are Killing English! – advances the premise that the degraded speech you and I (not me and you) hear around us everywhere mirrors how sports and entertainment role models speak. We’ve dubbed it “me and him” talk.

Do what we did – use Google to search that term, along with “me and her.” See what you find. What we found was daily evidence of entertainers and athletes being “cool” with their slack speech and unwittingly offering proof they slept through grammar class.

In other words, they’re killing English with their lips.

And that’s not cool. The little book’s co-premise is that although our cultural icons' talent is so far off the charts that it doesn’t matter how they speak, the average person’s job and career prospects are damaged by “me and him” talk.

So hats and helmets off to Tim Tebow. Google his name and “me and him” in the same search window, and guess what: Tim's not a “me and him” talker! The hits you receive show pronoun abuse by fans, teammates, journalists or on-air analysts, but not the Denver QB. (Typical hit: “It’s no surprise me and him are back in the playoffs….”)

For that reason alone, Colin Cowherd, host of ESPN Radio's The Herd daily sportstalk show, should lighten up on Tim Tebow. He may not be a pocket passer, but he uses the language properly.

That’s important in a role model, and since Colin is also one, let’s hope against hope that he humbles himself and embraces Tim Tebow for that reason, too. (Keep reading below for our observations about Mr. Cowherd's on-air pronoun abuse.)

ESPN’s Colin Cowherd Fits Mold of the Pronoun Challenged: “What It Teaches You and I…” OMG!

2012-01-12T21:17:00.006-10:00

It’s worse than we thought. Our sports radio hero, ESPN’s Colin Cowherd, is a “me and him talker.” Rue the day.

Actually, it’s not quite that bad. Colin’s frequent pronoun abuse hasn’t ventured into actual me-and-him-isms, but they happen often enough to conclude that his exceptional reach through five-day-a-week broadcasts on ESPN is influencing how his listeners speak in unseemly ways.

Here’s the message we sent to him at his show’s website two days ago:

“Colin, I sent you a book over the holidays -- "Me and Him Are Killing English!" I wrote it. You're one of the celebrities (and sports stars) who's mangling the language. Today in your first segment around the podcast's 4:25 mark, you said "...what it teaches you and I...." Would you say "what it teaches I"? Of course not. You're among the many who are pronoun challenged when there are more than one in a phrase. Hope you can find the book; it's a 20-minute read. Maybe one of your interns copped it and is improving his/her career prospects by cleaning up how he/she speaks."

Actually, we’re such a fan of The Herd that we're tempted to give him a pass on his pronoun abuse – but that would violate the whole point of writing “Me and Him” in the first place.

Our premise is that role models like Colin and the many sports stars he covers influence how others act and speak. When those cultural standouts abuse the language, they’re not doing their followers any favors, since how one uses the language is a major influence on one’s job and career prospects.

Star athletes and broadcasting talents like Colin are so good at what they do that their abuse of English grammar doesn't matter, but they're the exceptions. For just about everybody else, how they speak and form their sentences figures into their promotion potential.

We doubt our book ever made it onto The Herd’s desk, but just maybe an ESPN publicist will stumble across this post and summon up enough courage to tell Mr. Cowherd this much: “It’s ‘me,’ Colin, ‘me’ – not ‘I’ when it follows a preposition!” We can dream.

Attorney: “Her and her husband were struggling…”

2011-01-20T06:30:00.003-10:00

Well, there goes the neighborhood – and the premise of our book, Me and Him Are Killing English!

We advanced the theory in our book that business leaders and professionals are good models for Generation Y because they don’t use “me and him” talk, which we define as inappropriate grammar such as substituting the wrong pronouns for the right ones. A common example is, “Me and him were at the mall yesterday, and….”

The premise was confirmed by our own online research – until now. Until today, we had never read a quote by an attorney that used “me and him” talk, but there it is in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser this morning.

Defense attorney Myles Breiner said the following of an identity-theft defendant in court, in front of God, the judge, other attorneys, witnesses and reporters:

“Her and her husband were struggling to support themselves, their lifestyle, their children. They didn’t want their children to want for anything.”

“Her and her husband were struggling….” Mr. Breiner surely in reflection recognizes that the acceptable way to express the thought was to use “She” instead of “Her” as the subject of the sentence.

This was in court, where one presumes careful thought goes into how attorneys express themselves on behalf of their clients. Or maybe it wasn’t in court; maybe it was in one of those hallway interviews we see on TV.

But does it matter? Doesn’t proper use of the language matter no matter where a professional expounds on the merits of his case?

Note that we didn’t write “him case” in the sentence immediately above. Doing so would have been the logical extension of Mr. Breiner’s misuse of pronouns. If he said “Her and her husband were struggling….,” then it follows that he should have continued, “Them didn’t want their children to want for anything.”

But to his credit, he didn’t say that. So he does know intuitively which kind of pronoun belongs where in a sentence.

Notwithstanding this isolated case, we still have faith in business leaders’ and professionals’ ability to be good role models, so their own children won’t want for good speaking skills that lead to good jobs, promotion and success. "Me and him" talk doesn't.

Take ‘Me and Him’ on Any Given Day – Please!

2010-11-11T11:29:00.006-10:00

We just tested our theory that Me-and-Him’isms are happening all the time throughout society and not merely within earshot. Here’s how the test works:

Go to Google News and enter “me and him” in the search window, then see what’s returned to you. Here’s a selection of today’s test:

“Me and Lorne Michaels was in the elevator, just me and him, one time, and I was just looking at him, and I smiled, because I knew he was nervous.” ~New York Magazine (note the verb) (Entertainment)

"It would be a very good fight, me and him in his prime.” ~mb.com.ph (Boxing)

“I guess me and him just developed a little bit more of a connection.” ~Centre Daily Time (Football)

"The chemistry between me and him is better." ~duquesneduke.com (Basketball)

“Me and him have never, I doubt, (messed) with each other in any way.” ~USAToday (Drag racing)

“So me and him started arguing, because he interrupted my conversation with the sergeant.” ~Galveston County Daily News (Jailed inmate)

"I sent Regan a copy of my resignation letter. He asked to meet me and I agreed on the condition it was just me and him.” ~Daily Record, Scotland (Soccer)

“He does a good job and me and him have become real close.” HoopsWorld (NBA player)

We could go on, and you could, too, but there’s something you won’t find among all the “me and him” talk: Nobody in a position of business leadership speaks that way – at least, not to be quoted.

That’s the underpinning of my book – Me and Him Are Killing English! The lesson for young people could not be clearer:

If you want a successful academic, business or professional career, start talking like leaders. Give up your youthful and “for-effect” grammar bashing and get with the program!

Check out a post below for details on how to purchase Me and Him Are Killing English! either for yourself or, parents, for your children. (If you're in a hurry and can't wait, click on the PayPal button in the right-hand column; the price is $5 per copy, the listed PayPal price, plus $2 per copy to cover shipping.)

Killing English with “Me, Chris and ‘Bron.” Nice

2010-07-10T09:17:00.008-10:00

Dwayne, Chris and 'Bron greet the faithful.

Thank you, Dwayne Wade. You’ve made my point and allowed Killing English to be an unexpected participant in the Lebron James hoopla.

You see, Dwayne, our study of the misuse of the English language focuses on the importance of young people on a hoped-for upward career path to not follow your example. You and most (it seems) of your fellow athletes have opted for a Me-and-Him approach to telling your tales.

Me-and-Him talk abuses the language by inappropriately substituting objective pronouns (me, him, her, them) in place of subjective pronouns (I, he, she, they) where they rightfully should be used.

Your statements last night at the “We Got Lebron” celebration in Miami are an example. Here’s your quote as reported by the media all over the country:

“It’s still surreal, man,” Wade said. “Me, Chris and ‘Bron. We ready. We want to go to the gym now.”

For the record, and putting common courtesy of mentioning other people before yourself, your quote should have been: “Chris, ‘Bron and I. We are ready….” (We’ve also inserted a verb where one didn’t exist in that three-word sentence.)

Why does any of this matter? Because our study of Me-and-Him talk suggests nobody in business worth being quoted in the media talks that way. Ergo, young people who talk that way don’t find themselves promoted into business leadership.

If you don’t believe it, do what we did; enter “me and him” into the search window at news.Google.com and see what you find.

As we wrote in the post immediately below, you find Me-and-Him talk spoken by athletes and actors, musicians and rappers, coaches and blokes. But you won’t find business leaders talking that way.

So, thank you again, Dwayne Wade, for making my case. You’ll rake in your hundred million bucks after resigning with the Miami Heat, and that’s just fine. Good for you. But if you want to really make an impact beyond the Miami sports scene, try cleaning up your verbal act.

You’re a role model – for bad grammar, something young people without world-class athletic skills can’t afford in the business world.

Buy My Book!

"Me and Him Are Killing English!" is available for purchase using PayPal. Check out an earlier post here at Killing English on how to go about buying one, ten or a thousand copies of this pocket-sized book. Read reviews, including what a high school principal said about "Me and Him Are Killing English!" after she purchased a copy for each of her 300-person staff.

As Self-Preservation Gives Way to Curiosity, We Search for ‘Me and Him’ Online and Strike Gold

2010-06-12T10:19:00.018-10:00

For some people, it’s crinkling up cellophane that drives them up the wall. For others, it’s fingernails on a chalkboard. For me, it’s me-and-him talk – the ubiquitous mangling of pronouns that predicts a future for the speaker anywhere but in the corner office.

I wrote “Me and Him Are Killing English!” as a quick-read advice book for the younger generation (yours to define) with this simple message: Business leaders don’t speak the way you do. Pay attention to their quotes. Do you hear any me-and-him talk? No, you don’t. So watch what you say and to whom you say it!

I usually don’t go out of my way to find me-and-him talk. It finds me – as obvious as a foghorn, as unwelcome as sand in a piano.

But every now and then – and it’ll be more often than previously – I use news.google.com to find me-and-him talk, and does it ever. Here’s what I found on my latest search as revealed in the first 50 hits:

Athletes and actors, musicians and rappers, coaches and blokes – they talk this way. The way they relate is perfectly fine – for them. This is typical:

“Me and him are real close. From what I've read, what I've seen, we're all good players that are going to be making each other better.” Here’s another: “Me and him together, there's this magic, like a Jagger and Richards kind of thing. I e-mailed him and said, “Do you have any more songs? ...” And this: "We talk all the time, me and him. He'll ask me questions about things, and I'll tell him what I think.”

Who doesn’t talk this way? Nobody quoted in a business context was found in those first 50, and it’s my contention that you won’t find them in the first 500. In other words, business leaders aren’t me-and-him talkers -- at least, not when they're noteworthy enough to be quoted by the media.

But young people in business or just entering the working world are big users of me-and-him talk. You hear it yourself in your daily conversations. They slip into this vernacular – unconsciously, ubiquitously, and presumably unaware that many things go into promotion decisions.

One of them certainly is communications skill – the demonstrable ability to communicate appropriately, with strong adherence to proper grammar. Yes – boring old grammar obviously plays a role in achieving business success. Don’t know it or deliberately flaunt poor speaking habits and you reduce your personal opportunities. It has to be thus. The Internet doesn’t lie.

That’s the point of all those highway signs in this post. It’s a bumpy, narrow road to the top. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Check the Reviews

• "Discard correct spoken English at your own risk...."

• "Battle of (the right) words"

• "Hawaiian Writer says 'Book 'em, Danno!'"

Order "Me and Him Are Killing English!" Just click on the PayPal Buy Now button at the top of this page and purchase your copy or copies of this handy career helper. Or send a check to Carlson Communications, 1516 Halekoa Drive, Honolulu, HI 96821. The $7 price per copy -- that's the correct price, no matter what the PayPal site says -- includes shipping and handling, a bargain any way you look at it in light of what's at stake for you or the ones you love.

Golf Columnist Lands in a ‘Me and Him’ Bunker

2010-01-16T11:45:00.004-10:00

It’s one thing to point out grammar lapses when the offenders are a continent away. It’s quite another when they’re right here in Honolulu and we might bump into them after they read our criticism.

But on behalf of the grammarians everywhere, we’ll do it anyway. Here’s a sentence from the 1/16/10 coverage of the Sony Open in Hawaii by a local sports page columnist:

“So when Fujikawa strode confidently to the ninth tee yesterday right at the projected one-over-par cut line to close the front nine, it was hard for he or his mushrooming galley to imagine a better, more providential setting for a stretch run on cut-down day.”

“….for he….” ?? Obviously, this writer meant “for him” – something a native English speaker should know without a second thought. And he does know the correct usage one sentence later: “….where everything had gone right for him in the past….”

Who knows what happened? Maybe it wasn’t the columnist’s grammar mistake after all. Maybe a copyeditor changed “him” to “he” in a moment of madness.

All we know is that it’s more evidence of the steady creep of bad grammar into contemporary life -- and we’re still here to call it out.

We Call 'em as We See 'em While Traveling in Iowa

2009-08-23T13:25:00.014-10:00

Being a grammar cop is our never-sleep job, even while we were attending our 50th high school reunion in Davenport, IA on the east coast of a state that takes pride in its high literacy rate.

We therefore were mortified to see this sign on a building mere blocks from our beloved old high school and exposed to four lanes of north-bound one-way traffic on Brady Street.

Maybe the sign maker simply had no apostrophe in his kit to make IOWAS possessive, as it surely must be.

Or maybe the apostrophe just....magically....disappeared.....

Baseball GM Steps to Plate with Classic ‘Me & Him’

2009-07-31T05:50:00.008-10:00

As noted earlier this month, this blog is stepping up its eagle-eyed scrutiny of the media to locate classic “Me and Him” offenses – the grammar-mangling stylings of reporters, athletes, show biz people, etc.

The “etc.” doesn’t include many if any business leaders, however. That’s the point of our book – Me and Him Are Killing English. Those who’ve risen to the leadership ranks generally use the language properly. It’s part of the unwritten job description.

Which leads us to the apology New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya uttered yesterday. The apology's background is everywhere in the sports pages, along with this sentence:

“Me and Adam had a conversation, we had a conversation that stays between us.”

Maybe the apology should have, too. “Me and Adam”….? How does “Adam and I” sound to you, Mr. Minaya? And if you're going to mix up your subjective and objective pronouns, at least you could be consistent. You could have ended your sentence “…stays between we.”

Getting It Right

Now that would have been really ridiculous, and Mr. Minaya got it right. “Between” is a preposition, and “us” is the correct objective pronoun to follow “between,” something Mr. Minaya subconsciously must have known as he formed the sentence in his mind.

The “me and him, her, them….” construction is so widespread in the sports world that the Mets GM slipped into the usage easily. The problem with sloppy verbiage, though, is that “me and him talkers” generally don’t reach the upper reaches of management. Our view is that Mr. Minaya will have to change the way he expresses himself if he hopes to reach the prestigious position of president of a baseball club.

Our little book suggests a simple test of a sentence before it’s uttered to help select the correct word: Drop one of the pronouns. In this case, it’s highly doubtful Minaya would have said: “Me had a conversation…..” He just wouldn’t because he intuitively would recognize how ridiculous that construction would be.

Time does not allow us to aggressively pursue the “me and him talkers” in this space, but we invite readers who trip over this blog to join the pursuit of the English killers. They aren’t hard to find. Like Chicken Man, they’re everywhere!

Taking Off the Gloves: Journalists Are Among the Worst Poor-Grammar Offenders Because of Reach

2009-07-09T08:04:00.007-10:00

We’re out to sell books at this site AND make the world a better place, of course, by pointing out some simple fixes to the way people speak that will improve their chances for success. We've had a one-post strategy for this blog since it began, but we now have to admit it's a flop.

Despite some modest successes, the sales department of our little enterprise should be fired – but that would involve firing ourselves, and then there’d be none.

So we’re going to call attention to incredibly bad grammar usage when we find it, especially among those whose writing spreads across the Internet and therefore the entire planet. Perhaps calling out offenders when we come across their poor examples will seep into the universe’s collective consciousness – and sell some books!

Knowing When To Use 'Him'

Here’s today’s find – written by an anonymous Associated Press scribe in Honolulu and posted by CNBC today:

“He suggested that significant reductions in CO2 emissions will be obtained as a result of a new law backed by he and Gov. Linda Lingle that requires Hawaii utilities to cut emissions and energy usage by 2030.”

By he? How is it that a gainfully employed Associated Press journalist can write that? The proper construction obviously is “by him.” The word “by” is a preposition and therefore requires an object pronoun (him), not a subjective pronoun (he).

It’s possible the offending journalist simply couldn’t be bothered with such trivia while in school, a condition we suggest in Killing English that is widespread in students for the past generation or two. But for a story to go out on the AP wire, it presumably is read by at least one other person – traditionally called an “editor.”

So there was more than one grammar-challenged journalist responsible for today’s example. Our advice: Get thee to a bookstore here in Honolulu and scrounge around for a copy of Me and Him Are Killing English. Or simply order one here.

'Me and Him Talkers' -- Shape Up!!

2007-07-26T08:40:00.063-10:00

HONOLULU, HI -- With college "kids" home from school over the recent holidays, many of their older relatives were beaten down by the assault on their ears by the younger generation's speech. Said one parent:

“After sending our son to private school and enforcing the need for good grammar, he learned to speak properly at school and home. Sad to say, when he went to college and did not have that constant enforcement, he slipped into the ‘lazy’ way of speaking like all his friends. It’s sad to see someone so bright in every other way being so careless about that aspect of his life.”

She’s right to be concerned, because if he routinely uses what Honolulu author Doug Carlson calls “me and him talk,” he could find himself in a career cul-de-sac. “Leaders in business, education and the professions use standard English,” Carlson says. “They don’t say ‘me and him this’ and ‘me and her that.’ Leaders know talking like that is inappropriate in business, but a whole generation of young people have habits that make them apt to use ‘me and him talk’ at the wrong time and wrong place.”

Carlson says although “me and him talk” is how some young people stand apart from their elders, many speakers simply mimic their sports and entertainment role models and friends. “That’s OK for millionaire athletes and entertainers,” he says, “but it’s a turn-off in business. The way you speak affects your career, so if you’re a ‘me and him’ talker in a company that values standard English, you’re hurting your own prospects.”

Clean Up Your Speech!

Millions of individuals throughout America -- mostly members of the younger generation -- express themselves in ways that almost certainly limit their personal success potential in business and school. That's because they violate the conventional "rules" of grammar that are honored by nearly all successful people in business and education.

Doug Carlson argues in his new book -- Me and Him Are Killing English! -- that by simply making minor changes in the way "me and him" talkers express themselves, they can dramatically improve their chances for personal success.

Here's what an educator says about the book:

"We selected this little self-help gem for our staff as a reminder that, as educators, we are held to the highest standard in our spoken and written communications. Me and Him Are Killing English! provides this lesson with an easy humor that makes important points without the dreariness of a traditional grammar lesson. I also believe that many teachers will find the book useful in helping their students transition from the casual text-messaging conversations of teenagers to the language of academia and business."

-- Catherine Payne, former Principal, Farrington High School, Honolulu, HI

"Me and Him" is not your typical book on grammar usage; it covers the subject with a light touch -- as does Charles Memminger's column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Doug may be critical of the language's decline, but he's not up-tight about it, notwithstanding the column's photography.

They're Killing English!

Who exactly is killing English? Listen to how people talk. It's "me and him" this and "me and her" that; you hear it almost everywhere -- almost, but not quite. Business leaders don't talk that way!

Why should you and I (not "me and you") care? Because correct language use is absolutely essential for career advancement in business -- and often in education. Think about it: When's the last time you heard anyone with significant business responsibilities say something like: "Me and him won't comment on the lawsuit until we've read the complaint"? You've never heard them talk that way.

Even though numerous sports and entertainment heroes use "me and him" talk, it can only hurt the average person's career. Business rewards those who use the language properly, especially in customer service, so don't kid yourself: Somewhere on the career path, "me and him" won't cut it anymore.

"Me and him" defenders argue that language changes with the times and that it's acceptable for young adults to mangle English. For sure, it is a generational issue, and young people have always distanced themselves from their elders, but the evidence is everywhere that today's decision-makers in business and education -- the people who decide whom to reward with promotion and recognition -- are not "me and him" talkers. They know improper language use isn't appropriate and therefore have no incentive to reward language abusers. Conversely, those who use standard English are likely to be recognized for it.

Me and Him Are Killing English! explains the simple "rules" of grammar without reading like a grammar book. It helps "me and him" talkers lose the poor speaking habits that can slow their progress in business and education. Syndicated columnist Rob Kyff, who writes as "The Word Guy," recommended Me and Him for anyone with the "me and him" habit who's starting college or a career.

Resolved -- Better Speech NOW!

Check out this excerpt from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and then decide if you or someone in your circle of influence is a candidate for a me-and-him conversion that will improve chances for success.

Me and Him Are Killing English! is available at Amazon.com and in major bookstore chains. You also can purchase it by clicking the PayPal link at the top of this page; the price is $7 per book, including shipping and handling. (Please note that the price on the book's cover is $5; we add $2 per book for shipping and handling of Internet orders. The PayPal page linked above for some reason fails to reflect the $7 total price for each book, even though it shows the $2 S&H charge. We apologize for the obvious confusion, but it's beyond our control.)

For more information, email author Doug Carlson -- doug@commaaina.com -- and visit his business website for Doug's background and qualifications to comment on language abuse.