Grammar Moses: On me, myself and I. Or what's wrong with me?

There is no "I" in team. And apparently not enough "me" in the English language.

Or as Arlington Heights reader Lynn Jensen puts it: "Where has the objective case gone?"

In other words, why are many of us so reluctant to use the word "me"?

Alison Storaasli is a kindred spirit. She wrote company newsletters in her corporate life and ended them with a segment much like this column. She called it "Granny Grammarsmith's Gentle Guide to Proper English."

One of her lessons dealt with "the mistaken correctness of 'Jim accompanied Mike and I to the board meeting.'"

One thing that drives me batty is the proliferation of "myself."

"Hey, that last piece of birthday cake is for myself."

"The rule doesn't apply to myself and other people."

It seems we're trying to take the spotlight off ourselves when we erroneously use "myself" instead of "me" in these examples. I'm not alone in this thinking. Grammar guru Bryan Garner, author of the wonderful "Garner's Modern American Usage," notes it, too.

The objective case is used for nouns and pronouns that serve as objects in a sentence.

In the objective case, I becomes me; he becomes him; she becomes her; they becomes them; we becomes us and who becomes whom.

Me, me, me, me, me

As often as I hear people shy away from "me," I hear others say "me" when they should be saying "I."

"I hear a lot of 'me and Billy,'" Naperville reader Martha Sanders writes. "Aaaaagh! Many sports figures use the phrase when being interviewed."

Martha, you may receive a challenge to the number of A's in Aaaaagh, but I won't quibble.

The subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a sentence. One should employ I, he, she, they, we and who.

I am with you, Martha. When I hear "Me and her went to the store," I die a little inside.

If you're one of those people who say it, you probably know it's wrong. But you don't know why.

And now you do.

Sound-alikes

I could write full columns every week on words that are similar but mean different things. Or words that are spelled the same but have different meanings or that sound the same but are spelled differently. There is a label for each of those. Be patient. I'll get to them eventually.

Some who don't study words may not know, for instance, that "farther" and "further" are different words that have different connotations.

Reader Ken Lyon asked me to rule on the proper use for each word. It's pretty easy to differentiate.

"Farther" connotes physical distance, while "further" connotes degree.

Ken's examples: The grocery store is farther than I thought; I want to go further in my career than store clerk.

Ken is correct on both counts.

How about the Ford Motor Co. slogan "Go Further"? I think this is a very clever double-entendre.

Yes, you want your car to go farther than other cars. But, conceptually, you want it to go beyond what other cars offer. Does that mean you want it to be more technologically advanced, more comfortable, more fuel-efficient?

I guess that is for the consumer to decide for himself.

I get a kick out of double-entendres, but then again I love puns.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is assistant vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can follow or friend Jim on social media at facebook.com/baumannjim.