prescriptivism, conventions, & JFK Jr.

[Mai Kuha]

On Wed, 31 Jan 2001, sagehen wrote:

> ...  Another hypercorrection  of the reverse kind that I not only
> hear but see in print increasingly is: "So-&-so and I"  instead of "So-&-s0
> and me"  as objects of verbs or  prepositions. "She spoke to Bob and
> I"...."He invited Mary and I."  The "and" seems to kick in a reflexive
> *don't-use-/me/*  that I attribute to ill-understood corrections  from
> teachers.
> A. Murie

This reminds me of a question I've wanted to ask for some time. During the
media attention immediately following JFK Jr's plane crash, I saw an
excerpt from a previously recorded interview in which he says "Caroline
and I" in object position. I didn't know what to make of that, because
I'd thought that:

1. "X and I" in object position is an example of hypercorrection,
2. hypercorretion is what the linguistically insecure middle class does,
and
3. JFK Jr. was not a representative of the middle class.

This doesn't add up. What part is wrong?

-Mai
_____________________________________________
Mai Kuha                  mkuha at bsuvc.bsu.edu
Department of English     (765) 285-8410
Ball State University