English question
I just got a comment on a story that says that when someone is speaking about themselves and someone else, they always put the other person first. That is, like "Willow and I" rather than "I and Willow". I can't remember ever hearing of such a rule before. Have I just missed it? And if so, why has nobody ever pointed out to me before that I've been doing it wrong?
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Gina
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Incidentally German has a similar rule with a saying to help you remember: "Der Esel nennt immer sich selbst zu erst" ="The donkey always mentions herself first."
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As a matter of decorum, the nearest adult would immediately correct a child who made this error but it is considered impolite to correct an adult. In the written, though, no editor would ever let it pass.
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"I and" is a very ugly sound and relatively hard to say. I suspect this is why people often use "me and", even though it is technically incorrect.
You will almost never hear "I and" in spoken speech, and the only reason you might see it in writing is becasue the writer hasn't tried saying it aloud.
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(Anonymous) 2004-07-15 08:40 am (UTC)(link)These are not so much grammatical rules, as style rules. The purpose being to show humility, more or (usually) less sincerely.