Grammatical pet peeves abound - and driving irritations, too

Editor:

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Re Barry Paschal's April 1 column, "Lonely lament for language":

My pet peeve is the use of "myself": "Call Barry or myself to confirm the date." No one can call myself except me, right?

Don't get me started with "I and he" or "him and her." I notice grammar being destroyed in TV and movie scripts all the time. "Him and I want to be writers." "Call Barry or I to confirm the date." "He told Barry and I to get lost."

Of course, there is also debate of whether or not to begin a sentence with "and," but I am of the opinion that it is OK. And, last but not least, do you use quote marks after the punctuation or before? I have always thought (right or wrong) that the quotes should be inside a period, but outside the question mark. (Editor's note: The Harbrace College Handbook calls for periods and commas to be inside quotes, colons and semicolons outside, and question marks and exclamation points placed according to whether they apply just to the quote or to the entire sentence.)

Even after I study my grammar book, I still cannot understand the correct use of lie and lay. I have a friend - a Ph. D. - who constantly misuses "to" and "too" and "two."

However, I think it would be great if you would publish a grammar "nugget" every Sunday. And, why not publish driving peeves, too. There should be a turn signal on the floor because drivers can't give turn signals whilst talking on the phone.

Jeri Whitworth

Evans