In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say: "The first person singular pronoun is" I "when it comes to a subject and" me "when an object," but now few people know what that means. Let's see if we can apply some common sense. The misuse of "I" and "myself" for "me" is caused by nervousness about "me." Educated people know that "Jim and I are go to the slop the pigs," is not elegant speech, "not correct." Should be "Jim and I, because if I were slopping the hogs alone I would never say "I am doing...." If you refer to yourself first, the same rule applies: It is "Me and Jim are going" but "me and Jim go."


So far so good. But the idea that there is something wrong with the word "that" makes people and keep correcting, which is perfectly appropriate. People will say "The document had to be signed by both Susan and I" when the correct phrase is: "The document was to be signed by both Susan and me."


All this confusion can be easily avoided if you just remove the second game of the sentences where you feel tempted to use "I" as an object or feel nervous about "me." I would not say: "The IRS sent the refund check to I," you should not say "The IRS sent the check to my wife and I" either.


Seeking to avoid even more difficult for the humble self, many people will substitute "myself" as in "the suspect hurled insults Officer O'Leary and myself." Conservatives often oppose this use of "I" when "me" or "I" would do. It is usually appropriate to use "I" when used "I" earlier in the same sentence: "I am particularly fond of goat cheese myself." "I kept half the loot for myself." "Myself" is also good in terms such as "young people like me" or "a picture of my boyfriend and me." In informal English, from a sentence with "I" to express an opinion is widely accepted: "Myself, I can not stand dry parmesan cheese." In all these cases are emphasizing their own role in the decision and "myself" help to do that.


In a related point, those who continue to announce "It is I" have traditional grammatical correctness on their side, but they are vastly outnumbered by those who proudly boast "I!" Not much you can do about it now. Similarly, if a caller asks for Susan and Susan answers "This is it," her somewhat antiquated correctness is likely to startle the question in the confusion.