Correct Usage of the word "Myself"

Question

Are any of these usages correct?
a:)This will be a 12 week engagement of being drilled by myself and others.

b:) If you need the new password please contact Myself or Rob.

c:)Please send your responses to both myself or Chris?

d:)This is in regards to our conversation of myself giving you are required fields that are missing.

e:)please instruct your staff to contact myself or the Engineering on call phone prior to doing anything

f:)Bill and myself have identified a few servers that are either using...

g:)If you see any servers that need to be added please get with barb or myself.

I have a coworker that is driving me crazy with only using "myself" instead of "me" in everything he says. I need intellectual advice on how to explain the proper usage of this word.

Haoqide · Accepted Answer

I'm not very good with this either...I use "me" SO much more than "myself", but here are some links that might help you.

[url="http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/reflex.htm"][/url]

[url="http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/self.html"][/url]

[url="http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns1.htm"][/url] - Look under "Reflexive Pronouns"

[url="http://teenwriting.about.com/cs/grammar/a/ReflexPro.htm"][/url]

hehe, that oughtta shut him/her up!

CalifJim · Answer

Please don't let him drive you crazy over something so trivial!!!

The trend in American usage for at least 40 years has been toward "myself" instead of "me", "yourself" instead of "you", etc., except as the sole subject of a sentence, which remains "I", etc. Some day we'll all be talking like that! And the grammar books will all have new rules!

But while waiting for "some day", I see that one of the moderators has armed you with some linguistic weaponry, so no need for me to go in that direction! I assume that you've already declared war!

But you may want to reconsider. (Here comes the Dear Abbey part!)

These examples are actually charming! "myself" sounds much warmer and expressive than "me". And depending on his age, it may be difficult for him to change his way of expressing himself.

Before you go too far, try to determine whether the guy just plain bugs you for other reasons. Are you using his grammar as a way of deflecting the attention from the real problem you have with him? Also consider whether you are the only one willing to fight this battle. And whether all the grammar books in the world would change anything. How do other coworkers feel about the situation?

I gather from your examples that the guy is pretty busy and getting his work done. If that's true, you may be putting a good thing in jeopardy by confronting him about his grammar.

And I could have it all wrong. How can I possibly know the situation from one posting? My apologies if I've gone too far.

Good luck to you, in any case!

StressedOut · Answer

No worries. I really like the guy. He is my boss. I am a little older but HE is in charge. It only drives me crazy because it sounds incorrect. It starts because he has a double masters degree. Graduated from Miami, came to St. Louis and finished grad school with not one but two masters and he is only 27 years old. I am only envious of his dedication and self-disapline to do it.

You didn't go too far, it's mostly the fact that others here, whom also respect the boss and his dedication, have started using the same format. YUCK! It goes right up my spine!

I read everything that haogide posted. One of the pages states quite clearly that people use this word to sound more elegant. I on the other hand think it sounds the opposite.

Thanks for all the great advice!

CalifJim · Answer

Unusual story there!

You think you've got it bad. I used to have a boss (really smart guy) who would say, "That don't make sense." Talk about "going up your spine"!

So we used to laugh at him behind his back!

But in a caring way!

But we respected his opinions and the good work he did.

Interesting comment about imitating the boss. I once saw a program on language in which the linguists discovered that pronunciation changes within a region because people imitate the speech of the most respected people in that region. That's similar to what you observed.

btw, it's "others who also respect..." (not "whom")

Best wishes.

Anonymous · Answer

Not to start a dispute (that's not my intent) but I don't think this is such a trivial matter. The country is going downhill and part of the reason is poor grammar. Consider some of the following words and/or phrases that I hear from legislators and news people:
ameddiately immediately

egzit exit

ellegal illegal

We have got to . . . We must . . .

supposubly supposedly

Let's see where we are at. Let's see where we are

The woman, she was standing there when. . . The woman was standing there when . . .

People that can't speak . . . People who can't speak . . .

irregardless
I could have went there but . . . I could have gone there but . . .

I could just scream when I hear supposedly educated people who can't speak properly and I'm not an English teacher. I can't even explain why some things are grammatically incorrect; I just know what doesn't sound correct. For example: Whom is the objective case of WHO. What does that mean? I don't know, but I know when to use who and when to use whom.

Most people don't know when to use they're there or their.

How about "me and her are going to the museum?"

My dad, when he heard someone whose grammar was incorrect used to say things such as "shall us went" as a way of mocking the person.

Mister Micawber · Answer

.
Although I agree that a few of your examples are pretty far out there, most of them are perfectly acceptable. The main problem is your statement, "I just know what doesn't sound correct". That criterion is a very poor one indeed-- there are reputable Englishes all around the world, and what may sound odd in your neighborhood certainly does not necessarily apply in a neighborhood 6000 miles away.

"I just know what doesn't sound correct"-- that strikes a similar chord to the old plaint, "I don't know anything about Art, but I know what I like". That may be true, but it makes you neither an artist nor an art critic.

.

Anonymous · Answer

I agree that my criteria is a poor one. I was using it to indicate that I can't explain why incorrect usage of a word is incorrect.

I also agree that some words are acceptable in different locations, such as:
towards
backwards
upwards

These words are acceptable in the U.K but not in the U.S. (drop the last "s" in the U.S.)

BTW, I don't know much about art but I do know what I like.

I think some things are intuitive. For example, I know nothing about poetry however, I once assisted a niece with her poetry homework. There was a poem she didn't understand and I attempted to explain it. I wasn't certain that I knew what the heck I was talking about but I couldn't let her know that. As it happens, I lucked out and my analysis or interpretation of the poem was exactly correct.

Just as an aside, I am surprised that anyone is even viewing this web page. I was surprised to see someone had made a comment about my comment so quickly.

Anonymous · Answer

Every single one of this is incorrect. There is no gray area with this issue. There is always ONLY one option for choosing me, myself, or I. Never are any of these words interchangeable.

A, B, C, and G should all use "me" because the word in question is an object, but NONE of the subjects is "I." You CANNOT give something to myself. Only I can give something to myself.

D is wrong on many levels...but the correct word should probably be "my" because it's used as an adjective modifying the gerund "giving." However, the rest of this sentence is not constructed properly, so there's no way to tell for sure what's actually being said.

F should use "I" because it's a subject. You would never say "Myself have identified a few servers." Usage does not change just because Bill joined you in this identification.

The only time you should ever use "myself" as an object is when the word "I" is the subject. Like "I gave it to myself" or "I sent myself an email." If the subject of the sentence is "you," then you cannot, under any circumstances, use "myself" as an object.

By the way, any of the people who say to use one or the other because it "sounds better" didn't pay attention in English class. There is no "sounding better." There is only correct or incorrect, and most of the time you hear someone use "myself," they're incorrect.

Here's a trick for knowing which word to use: remove the other people and let the word "me," "myself," or "I" stand alone in the sentence. Therefore...

a. This will be a 12-week engagement of being drilled by ME.

b. If you need the new password, please contact ME.

c. Please send your responses to ME.

d. This is in regard to our conversation of ME (also can use MY here) giving you...

e. Please instruct your staff to contact ME...

f. I have identified a few servers...

g. If you see any servers that need to be added, please get with ME.

Anonymous · Answer

f:) Bill and myself have identified a few servers that are either using...

BarbaraPA · Answer

Anonymousf:) Bill and myself have identified a few servers that are either using...

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Correct Usage of the word "Myself"

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