"yes the king of the beavers / you cannot deceive us / and you can't fool owls"

[larryhammer]

So there's this the odd linguistic feature of English pronouns in compound subjects where they switch between nominative and objective forms depending on the order. That is, "Me and Julio were down by the schoolyard" sounds entirely correct even though technically it should be "I and Julio" -- which actually sounds so stiff it feels actively wrong -- but in the reverse form, it's "Julio and I were down by the schoolyard" that sounds correct ("Julio and me" sounds acceptable as a colloquialism but to be avoided when speaking in formal registers).

Does anyone know the name for this?

---L.

Subject quote from "Owls," Weebl.

Comments

[taigerchily.livejournal.com]

Back at school we've been taught to always use "Julio and me", and not "Julio and I". They told us that you do not use "I" at an enumeration like "Julio and me", but always just "me", and that you only use "I" if it's you alone. And I think someone told me once that if it's "we" (Julio and me), it's always "me".

But then, I am not a native English speaker, my teacher hasn't been a native English speaker, and school - that was when? Way back in the Middle Ages? :)

So... Which one is correct? Julio and I, or Julio and me? I have to admit that I am more than confused now :)

[larryhammer]

Most formally, "Julio and I." If it was just myself, it would be "I was down by the schoolyard," and adding Julio to the party does not change the Ich to mich -- so "Julio and I were down by the schoolyard. (If the enumeration was taking place after the verb, it becomes "the guys down by the schoolyard were Julio and me.")

Most of the above debate is over whether this most formal rule is changing in common usage under certain circumstances. The consensus seems to be that I see it having changed more than most people here, and I'm starting to wonder if this is a regional usage.

---L.