Pet Peeve: Grammar Issues

While watching some TV before work I surfed to a channel where a woman was speaking. "The best thing about John and I's relationship is our ability to communicate." I guess grammar isn't part of the communication. I'll admit, I have my own little idiosyncrasies when I speak or write. Everyone does. But there are just a few things that really get under my skin. The word "I's" uttered by the woman is one of those things that drives me crazy. "I's" with an apostrophe+s is not the right way to form the possessive of I. We have happy little things called possessive pronouns that can do the job just fine. Let's review the possessive pronouns: my, your, his, her, our, their. Good! Notice I wrote their not they're! Would you dare say, "the best thing about we's relationship"? I doubt it. Nope, you would say, "the best thing about our relationship." Want another grammar pet peeve? How about, "there was a great discussion between Jack and I." Sorry, kids, it might sound fancy and "educated," but, really, it isn't. It's wrong. The preposition "between" requires an objective case not a nominative case. Would you say, "just between we" or "just between us"? I think you would say "between us" because "between we" just sounds lame. Do people even know what a case is these days?

Sigh. It's sad. What is even more frustrating is when you hear the educated, the powerful, and the famous saying these things. Because these people speak this way, the rest of the world assumes that it's right. But in this high-tech world of television, computers, instant messages, and, yes, even blogs, little phrases like these spread like wildfire. What can we do? Who knows? Maybe we should actually try to teach grammar in schools. Personally, I think that we should bring back mandatory Latin (or ancient Greek) classes in our elementary, middle, and high schools. When you are forced to look at a highly intricate and structured grammar, you will really begin to learn and understand grammar.

Current mood: aggravated and amused