I me mine

You're at an office meeting—perhaps you work at a university—and everyone around the table is full of grand ideas and eager to share them. At length, with numerous examples.

Or you're watching a couple of pundits on TV confidently debate the prospects of this candidate or that proposal.

The vibe is cerebral, self-possessed, a little poindextery.

Then someone says, "That's exactly the way it looked to she and I."

Immediately, the "wah wahhhh" sad trombone sounds (at least, it does in your head), and you start applying a little more cynical scrutiny to everything that person says.

How do so many people—smart, highly educated people—get this pronoun case wrong, in writing and in speech? It seems they convince themselves the subjective case must be right here, because it sounds more elegant, more in tune with elevated discourse.

Even though you would never, ever say, "That's exactly the way it looked to we."

I have Mr. Moore, my high-school Latin teacher, to thank for my rarely falling into this bear trap of English grammar. Once you learn the accusative case, you are unlikely to stick an "I," "she," or "he" where a lowbrow "me," "her," or "him" is called for.

Uncrook the pinky, people. Sometimes, the plain-sounding objective pronoun is actually the refined choice.