Q: Please explain the difference between “bring” and “take.” — Paul Johnson, Minneapolis
A: In an episode of the old George Burns and Gracie Allen TV show, George asks Gracie where she obtained a bouquet of flowers, and she replies, “You told me when I visited a neighbor to take her flowers, and I did.”
In fact, Gracie’s mistake is caused, not by confusing “bring” and “take,” but by the double meaning of “take” and the ambiguity of “her,” but I just happen to like that joke.
George was indeed correct when he told Gracie to “take her flowers.” It’s all a matter of perspective. “Take” implies movement away from the speaker. “Take your lunchbox to school,” says your mom. “Bring” implies movement toward the speaker. “Bring your lunchbox to school,” says your teacher.”
Handy Mnemonic: “Take me out to the ballgame. Bring me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.” (It’s actually “BUY me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,” but what the heck.)
Q: Which is correct: “myriad problems exist” or “a myriad of problems exists”? — Charles F. Gritzner, Brookings, South Dakota
A: Either is correct. “Myriad” may be used as an adjective or as a noun. (By the way, I’m waging a one-man campaign to establish its use as a verb too, but I won’t myriad you with the details.)
Q: Where did the term “good skate” (to describe a good person) originate? — Doris Fash, Southington, Connecticut
A: Experts pooh-pooh the theory that this term has anything to do with roller skates or ice skates. In fact, they say it comes from poo-poo.
The Old Norse word for “dung” was “skita,” and this became the dialectical “skite” in English, meaning a contemptible person. Eventually, the negative connotations of “skite” (later “skate”) were flushed away, and “skate” came to mean a fellow or person.
Q: I have been having an argument with friends over when to use “he and I” or “him and me.” I say, “She spoke to him and me” is correct, but they say, “She spoke to he and I” is correct. Please help. I am about to be hated by my friends. — Perplexed in Virginia
A: Dear Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by what is called “hypercorrection,” the tendency to be so fearful of making one mistake that you end up making another.
Having been taught that it’s wrong to say, “Him and me believe in Santa Claus,” they’re afraid to use “him and me” when the objective case is required, e.g., “Santa Claus loves him and me.”
Yes, Virginia, there IS a correct clause, and “She spoke to him and me” is it.
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, “Mark My Words,” is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
