Monday, October 20, 2008

Me versus I

Basically, the problem with "me" and "I" is that you don’t know which to use when listing things. Right? Right. That's ok; I'm going to show you how to figure it out.

Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and me went to visit the Tooth Fairy.
Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and I went to visit Tooth Fairy.

So which is it? All you have to do is take out the other people in the sentence and see which sounds better.

Me went to visit the Tooth Fairy.
I went to visit the Tooth Fairy.

When you say it this way "I" sounds right and "me" doesn't.

Can you help Priscilla and me carve the pumpkin?
Can you help Priscilla and I carve the pumpkin?

Again, take out the other person and see how it sounds.

Can you help me carve the pumpkin?
Can you help I carve the pumpkin?

This time "me" is correct, and while I know sometimes "I" sounds more formal or proper, it isn't actually right. Here's the rule: "I" is a pronoun that is the subject of a verb (I am the subject), and "me" is a pronoun that is the object of a verb (the object is me).

One final note - there isn't a rule about the order of the people you list, but it is polite to put yourself last.

Grammar Rules!

Would that schools still taught whole sections on grammar, but they don’t. I was lucky enough to get a good grammar education, both in grade school and college, but it is something that many schools neglect. And really, that’s a disservice to their students. It is unfair to expect someone to know how to construct a sentence correctly if nobody ever taught them. I don’t profess to be the grammar-know-it-all. I do, however, have a pretty firm grasp on most of the principles.

The Baldwin School did a fabulous job of teaching me how to write a paper, and they started early. By the time I got to Skidmore College I could write a paper better than most people, only because I had had a lot of practice. It isn’t that I have some gift, I was just forced to write paper after paper after paper, and all those papers were graded on content, style and grammar. Of course I didn’t appreciate this until I got to college and realized that I was leaps and bounds ahead of many of my peers who did not receive the same kind of education.

Add to this that I like rules. I like logic and patterns and processes. Geometry was my favorite subject, and diagramming sentences was a close second. Now, here’s the thing about grammar rules. Once you understand them, I mean really honestly fully grasp them, you are allowed to break them (most of them anyway). But, you can’t break them until you can do everything without breaking them. If you start breaking rules before you understand them, then your writing won’t have the effect you’re going for, and it will sound cumbersome at best. You also can't rely on grammar check to catch your mistakes because, believe it or not, it's often wrong. Grammar check is making a best guess based on the words you used and the order you put them in. It doesn't read and it doesn't understand your intentions.

Like I said – I am not the Grammar Rule Queen, so don’t yell at me when I make mistakes - nobody is perfect. I’m not going to critique comments or other people’s blogs and postings; that’s mean and unsupportive. All I’m going to do is post a series of grammar rules so you can refer to them if you so choose. They will be common errors and misconceptions. I may also throw in a few words that people often misuse. If this is something that you find interesting, or if you are a big nerd like me, you can also join SPOGG - The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. I'm not kidding.

Lastly, if you would like me to address anything specific feel free to let me know; I'll do my level best.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

It All Comes Down to the Scallop

I went to dinner last night in the city...the city being Philadelphia. We went to a restaurant called Sole Food, which was great despite my poor attitude. It wasn't totally poor, but I had had a concept in my head of what the night was going to be like, and it didn't work out that way and made me cranky.

The food was great, the company was great, the wine was decent...it was a fun evening. Here's the thing. I ate two appetizers for dinner, and one of them was called something along the lines of Pancetta Crusted Sea Scallop. Scallop. I didn't pay enought attention to that word, and when the food came I definitely had A pancetta crusted sea scallop. It had some sort of delicious corn salad with mushrooms and a piece of lobster with it. I'm not complaining about it, but I was just really startled to see one sea scallop. The bowl itself was HUGE, but the rim was about five inches out from the actual bowl part that would hold about a cup. So, the bowl was tiny, the rim was gigantic...like the plate probably had a 15 inch diameter...and in the middle of it was a single sea scallop.

It seems to be the general trend in fine dining. And, frankly, I'm fine with smaller portions (helps with my Weight Watchers, but that's another post). There is no need to feel disgustingly stuffed after eating out, but I did chuckle over my $12 scallop. Like I said, I'm not complaining about it; I could never have made anything that tasty. It did just give me pause when the massive plate came out. I guess the idea is that you're paying for the experience. I'm happy to say we had wonderful service and a very attentive staff, but sometimes restaurants don't deliver. My feeling is, if you are going to be brazen enough to charge $12 for one scallop, you had better be prepared to make it worth it. Fortunately for all involved, Sole Food did.

The rest of the meal was Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare, Brussel Sprouts with bacon and apples, and Chilean Sea Bass. All of it was great, but here is something I am going to complain about. The tartare (news to me that there is an e on the end) was so spicy I couldn't eat it. I will admit, my tolerance for hot is pretty low, and I am often overwhelmed and gasping from things that small children have no problem stomaching, but this was ridiculous. My dining companion ate the tuna with minimal sweating, so it worked out, but if you are going to make something nose-hair-singeingly spicy, then mention that on the menu. I think this is the third time in as many restaurants that the tuna tartare was laced with chili oil and I couldn't eat it. I know what you're saying - if this is happening with any regularity, why don't I ask before ordering? Duly noted, and now I will. The sea bass was amazing, and there were a number of other things on the menu I would have ordered had I been hungrier.

I'll have more to say about fine dining trends later.