English grammar issues

[lvdkeyes]

Am I the only one who finds it unacceptable that English speaking supposedly intelligent people on TV can't seem to figure out when to use "I" and when to use "me" or when to use "who" vs "whom"?

[Rogie]

As a Brit I feel the same way. I'll readily admit I make the odd mistake but in general I take the distinction seriously. I think most of the time anyone brought up so as to appreciate the distinction will do so automatically, without the need for conscious thought, but there are a very few instances when I do have to catch myself and mentally ask "was that right?" Not that it matters that much to me if I'm wrong every so often, but you can bet your bottom dollar (I wonder where that expression derives) some bright spark will pick me up on it and turn out to be correct. Very galling, but so what!

A big problem as I see it is the more this goes on the more anyone objecting or merely pointing out the error is regarded as a pedant. So we either resign ourselves to the inevitable (let's hope I'm wrong) or stamp our feet and get hot under the collar to little avail!

Some while ago it was decided in some circles to blur the distinction between imply and infer. Now that does annoy me. They do not mean the same!

[lvdkeyes]

I was talking specifically about people on TV who have scripts and an opportunity to edit what they say before they say it. They don't seem to know English grammar.