Mental Monday: Me, Myself, and Sly

Even though Sly and the Family Stone used some clever spelling for their 1969 hit “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” they DID use “myself” correctly in the song. Unfortunately, too many others seem to go into a funk (sorry — I just couldn’t resist the pun) when they have to make a quick sentence decision about the usage of “me” versus “myself.” So I’m here to help you sound like a pro when the time comes for your own personal “myself” moment.

First of all, just remember that most of the time, “me” will be the correct choice. “Myself” is used more rarely and in very specific instances. And I’m not going to spend much time telling you that “myself” is a reflexive pronoun because you’ll never remember that “myself” is a reflexive pronoun. And I know that you know that “me” is an object pronoun. I don’t even have to say it twice that “me” is an object pronoun. Right?

So here’s what you SHOULDN’T say the next time you’re 1) on the witness stand in court, 2) being interviewed on camera, 3) giving a speech, 4) trying to impress someone new, or 5) speaking in front of your coworkers (please note that all of these have an element of on-the-spot stress in them):

The defendant was shooting at Kevin and myself.

I never imagined my next-door neighbor was a serial killer. He was always so nice to the neighbors, the local kids and myself.

Today I will be speaking about water conservation and why it’s so important for all of us — including myself — to cut back on usage.

So…I was hoping you could come to the Dodger game with me. My boss said there’d be tickets for a guest and myself.

So let’s take a look at some of the recent work we’ve done for this client. This presentation was put together by Julian, Vayshali and myself.

Why are all of these wrong? Shorten them down to the bare essence of the sentence and you’ll see why. Would you really say:

He was shooting at myself. No! He was shooting at ME!

The serial killer was always nice to myself. No! He was nice to ME!

It’s important for myself to cut back. No! It’s important for ME!

He left a ticket for myself. No! He left a ticket for ME!

This was put together by myself. No! It was put together by ME!

So, when do you use “myself”? When you’re talking about something you did or will do yourself (notice the “I”):

I cut myself shaving. Not: I cut me shaving.

I’m going to kill myself. Not: I’m going to kill me.

I’ll get those suitcases myself…I see myself retiring in a few years…It’s about time I treated myself to some jewelry.

Start using “myself” correctly and you’ll get to see ME (not MYSELF) Dance to the Music. Because when we all use the right pronoun, Everybody Is a Star! TURN IT UP!

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Karen A. Hernandez, Editorial Manager at Wunderman West WundermanWest.com

On Twitter: @Goofreader and @WundermanWest