Me, MYSELF, and I

Artist Gabriela Ibarra

"If you like this painting and would like more information, please contact the artist or myself. "

What is WRONG with that sentence? If you do not know, read on.

I know I will really catch some you know what for this post. I have been called a grammar Nazi and I am proud of it! Not really (the proud part) - I certainly do not always get it right, but this is a misuse of the word "myself" that I hear more and more these days and I just have to say something!

I think most who read this will appreciate it as most bloggers aspire to be good writers and want to use correct grammar in their posts.

To confirm my stand , (and since I decided to get all prissy and smug here!) I referenced this website. Here is an excerpt regarding the word in question:

Hi, Grammar Girl. This is Chuck Tomasi, your interim Grammar Guy from ChuckChat.com, home of podcasts too numerous to mention. I hear and see examples of the misuse of the word myself all the time. For example, an e-mail went out from HR like this, “Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions.” Could you please help listeners know when the word myself is appropriate and when to use a more appropriate word? Thanks!

Excellent, Chuck! Let's dissect what's wrong with that sentence: "Please contact Squiggly, Aardvark, or myself with questions." The simplest way to think of it is like this: How would you say the sentence without Squiggly and the aardvark? Then it usually becomes obvious! You would say, “Please contact me with questions,” not, “Please contact myself with questions.” So when you add in Squiggly and the aardvark, that doesn't change anything. It's still correct to say, “Please contact Squiggly, aardvark, or me with questions.”

Digging into the topic a little deeper, myself is what's called a reflexive pronoun. That can be hard to remember, but just think about looking into a mirror and seeing your reflection. You'd say, “I see myself in the mirror.” You see your reflection, and myself is a reflexive pronoun.

If you care, and if you have misused the word"myself", do not feel badly. I even heard our president misuse it..........on national television!!

So, that being said, "If you like this painting and would like more information, please contact the artist or ME".

Whew - I feel better already. Thank you.