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it's not me and you it's you and I

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I have noticed, and am being driven crazy, by the misuse of this term. I constantly hear people saying "me and my wife went to the concert" etc.; this was even used as the title of an article in Vanity Fair magazine "Me and Mrs. Palin" by Levi Johnson. Why has this use become so common? Does anyone think this has become acceptable or I am the only one who finds this so grating?

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I don't think that "me and x" has become acceptable in formal writing, but it has been common in casual conversation for many, many decades.

I haven't seen or read the article you saw in Vainity Fair, but I wouldn't write the title unless it was an allusion to the R&B song Me and Mrs. Jones. On the other hand, I can't think of any good reason why anyone would call that song to mind given the article's topic, unless there is some news I haven't heard.

Maybe the magazine was just trying to communicate a certain je ne sais rien regarding the author.

The song, while dating back to 1972, was recorded by Michael Buble a few years ago.

Billy Paul performing Me and Mrs. Jones (1972)
Michael Buble performing Me and Mrs. Jones (2007)

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(@dadoctah)
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Note that a few years before Billy Paul, Kris Kristofferson wrote (and Janis Joplin recorded) "Me and Bobby McGee", which within the context of the lyrics is the grammatically correct form.

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While the me might be correct, my grammar school teachers would have red-inked that one into "Bobby McGee and Me." We were forced into the order of 2nd person, then 3rd person, then 1st person. However, none of my grammar teachers ever wrote even one hit song.

Creativity, by nature, defies the rules.

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(@torpeau)
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teperkins said:

I have noticed, and am being driven crazy, by the misuse of this term. I constantly hear people saying "me and my wife went to the concert" etc.; this was even used as the title of an article in Vanity Fair magazine "Me and Mrs. Palin" by Levi Johnson. Why has this use become so common? Does anyone think this has become acceptable or I am the only one who finds this so grating?


Someone once pointed out to me, right or wrong, that putting yourself first wasn't bad English, it was simply bad manners.

Of course, assuming there's no concern about manners, it would be: "I and my wife went to the concert."

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