Hawaiian Writer Says, "Book 'Em, Danno!" by Rob Kyff on Creators.com

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Hawaiian Writer Says, "Book 'Em, Danno!"

Soon after my recent column trashing "me and him" in the nominative case — "Me and him were born the same month"; "Me and her have chemistry" — I received this nifty little paperback book in the mail. It's called "Me and Him Are Killing English!"

It's by this Hawaiian writer named Doug Carlson. He actually lives in Hawaii and everything, and he even sent me a letter with the salutation "Aloha." Pretty cool.

He agrees with me that the use of "him and me" in the nominative case is spreading like Mauna Loa lava. His book includes actual quotes from football players ("Me and him are 2-1"), golfers ("Me and him beat the field by seven at Augusta one year") and beauty pageant contestants ("Me and him did have some issues"). Excuse me, but I don't think Bert Parks sang, "There her goes, Miss America."

But Carlson is no snob, and he knows all of us, including me, sometimes have trouble picking the right pronoun. So he offers this simple trick: "When in doubt, drop one out."

This means that, when you have a name or noun paired with a pronoun, just drop out the name or noun and the correct pronoun will be obvious: "Joey and me went to the store" . . . "Me went to the store"? No way.

But some of us are so paranoid about avoiding the objective case "me" and "him," he explains, that we go overboard and say things like, "Between you and I" and "I want Sally and they to join us." Carlson's drop-one-out rule applies here, too.

"Between I"? "I want they to join us"? I don't think so. He also knows there's a natural tendency to use "me" and "them" following a verb, even when it technically should be "I" and "they" — "It's him"; "That's them" — and he's OK with that, at least in informal settings.

What he does dis is putting "I" or "me" before another person's pronoun or name — "George invited me and Sally," "Bill, I and Jerry are leaving." Why? Simple courtesy.

Though not a stickler, Carlson knows that the nominative "me and him" can get you off to the wrong start with a professor or kill a job interview or a promotion, even in laid-back Hawaii.

So if you know someone with the "me and him" habit who's starting college or a career, consider sending him or her a copy of "Me and Him Are Killing English" — perhaps anonymously. It's available for $5 plus $2 shipping from Comma'aina Communications, 1516 Halekoa Drive, Honolulu, HI 96821.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.