Reflections On Reflexives

Much argument about language, on the web and no doubt elsewhere, arises from a failure to appreciate the difference between grammar and style. Grammar tells us what a language allows its speakers to say. Style describes the ways in which speakers use grammar for various effects and with varying degrees of success.

One cause of misunderstanding in this area is the use of reflexive pronouns. The reflexive pronouns are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves and themselves. They are typically used to refer an element in the clause back to its subject, as in I’ve hurt myself or They’ve humiliated themselves. They are also used to emphasise a noun phrase, as in He himself is not to blame or The representation of an object is not the object itself.

Some speakers also use the first person singular reflexive pronoun, myself, in place of I or me. This is well-attested. The Oxford English Dictionary has ten citations in support of myself in object position and eighteen in support of its use in subject position. The first include citations from Langland, Shakespeare, Bunyan, Burns and Ruskin. The most recent is this from the ‘Daily Telegraph in 1960:

He subjected a colleague and myself to analyses of alcohol in the blood on his breath-testing machine.

Authors cited in support of the second include Chaucer, Shakespeare, Addison, Browning and Masefield. The most recent is this from the ‘Church Times’ in 1988:

Myself, as Deacon and Chaplain at the University of Kent, opened for the diocesan team.

The OED has a further definition of myself  ‘as part of a compound subject or predicate, and after than or as. Also (chiefly Irish English) as simple predicate.’ Supporting citations include those from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Bunyan, Richardson, Johnson, Scott and Hardy. The most recent is from the ‘Ice Hockey News Review’ in 1996:

Myself and Phil Chard are now running the coaching.

With such evidence, any claim that this use  of myself is ungrammatical has no basis. It is found in the writings of the high and the low across the centuries. But the crucial point is this. Yes, it is grammatical, yes, it is  is supported by the practice of the most skilled writers in the language, yes, it exists in contemporary English, but those facts alone will not mean that it will necessarily be effective in all circumstances. In ‘The Cambridge Guide to English Usage’ , Pam Peters gives as an example

The chairman invited myself to that position.

She suggests that those who use such a construction do so it an attempt ‘to avoid putting the spotlight on themselves’. She adds ‘There is no need to do this. In fact we draw less attention to ourselves by using the ordinary me.’ What she doesn’t say is that it is ungrammatical.

Take-home message: The use of myself in place of I or me is grammatical. That’s a fact. Whether or not it’s effective is a matter of opinion.