Why it’s not all about ‘me’

Ever wondered about the now all-too-common habit of starting a sentence with ‘me’?

As in: ‘Me and mike went to a movie’.

Or, even worse: ‘Myself and Mike went to a movie’.

Do you remember when we used to say: ‘Mike and I…’? It was not that long ago.

So, why the change? The answer, it seems, is that language reflects culture – who we are.

And a strong cultural change that’s been taking place, particularly since the advent of social media, is individualism. And it’s rapidly morphing into various forms of narcissism.

That doesn’t mean you’re a narcissist if you start a sentence with ‘me’ or (shudder) ‘myself’. More likely, it just means you’ve heard other people say it so often that it now sounds like the normal way to start a sentence.

Posted 6 years ago