[lit-ideas] The Training of Robert Paul (Was: Miss Craw)
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:05:13 EDT
>When I was taught English grammar at the nursery by my Nottinghamshire
nanny, Miss Craw, of happy memory, I >was held to what were presented as the
highest standards: 'between >you and I' is what she called a 'mistake'.
Now, I'm confused.
How come (if you excuse me the Germanism) Robert Paul needed to be _trained_
in the English language.
What was wrong with R. Paul's father-tongue or mother-tongue. Why engage the
services of Miss Craw?
I was never _taught_ grammar, and would _never_ say "between you and I"
('between' governs dative).
Miss Craw's conception of a 'mistake' seems pretty narrow, too. It's obvious
that the _logical form_ of "between you and I" _is_ 'between you and I'.
It's just a dialectical (alla Hegel) choice which expression you use.
I don't know where Miss Craw hailed from, but in many shires of the English
speaking-world, they say things, like "it's me", which is supposed to be _NOT_
a mistake, and things like "Me and my girl were meant for each other". If
you start calling these _mistakes_ you end up realizing perhaps it was a
_mistake_ that people found Miss Craw worth hiring.
J. L.
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