arrgghh

[bednobs]

why do people say "myself" when they mean "me" and yourself when they mean "you"? I've been noticing it more and more lately and it annoys me greatly. Just been on the phone with the insurance company "you're talking to myself, david today"
Also while i'm on the subject why do people say "each to their own" IT'S WRONG!
I have no idea why these things annoy me, they just do

[boxtops]

You're right, mark, it is a convention - it just annoys me. "I would like to invite you to a party" - well go on, then, do it!

[Zacs-Master]

I'm inviting you to a party. With myself, Zacsmaster.

[boxtops]

I myself personally would like to accept, Zacs

[MarkRae]

> "I would like to invite you to a party"

That's actually a little different. In that sense, the conditional is being used in its original meaning i.e. "It would be my pleasure to invite you to a party", or "Inviting you to my party would be something that I would like".

[Zacs-Master]

Enjoy.

[Zacs-Master]

What about the phrase 'you're joking me' Mark, how many 'rules' of english does that one break?

[MarkRae]

Rules of English, you mean? Well, none as far as I can tell. The verb "to joke" is intransitive, but the "me" here is dative and as such conveys the meaning of "to me", as in "Sing me a song".

[Zacs-Master]

Crikey, it's like walking on eggshells (egg shells?) round here.

[FredPuli43]

Americans seem good at this. 'Joke me' means 'you are kidding me' or 'you are joking with me' not 'you are telling a joke to me', but though it sounds a bit odd to us, is breaking no rule.

Another which sounds odd to me is 'to grow a business', yet there's nothing intrinsically wrong with it. We grow plants, after all.

But 'I'm hurting' ? When did 'to hurt' come to mean 'to feel emotional pain' ? Surely it has always been transitive, 'to hurt somebody or something'.

[Quizmonster]

The OED offers a quote from 1970 that reads, "I'm sorry you're hurting", so it's been around colloquially for nigh on half a century, Fred.