Me and my English peeps at Bouchercon New Orleans
Passions have cooled since the Battle of New Orleans, and the British are now welcomed without being fired upon. Here's me with two of them, Ali Karim and Mike Stotter, at Bouchercon 2016, with thanks to the member of staff at the New Orleans Marriott who shot the photo.
And now, Noircon.
© Peter Rozovsky 2016
And now, Noircon.
© Peter Rozovsky 2016
Labels: Bouchercon 2016, Noircon 2016
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 1:33 PM
15 Comments:
There were quite a lot of Brits at Bouchercon this year, so I guess they've gotten over that whole battle thing.
Have fun at Noircon. Just the right season for it.
I would make a point of this with no one else, but shouldn;t the title be, "My English Peeps and Me?"
Seana, there were enough of them that not only was my gang there, but I met a new one or two and--possibly the biggest test of all--there was at least one person from England who attended and I did not realize until after the convention was over that our paths had not crossed.
Why, Dana? Were your British peeps at Bouchercon, too?
Dana, you're a musician. You ever play that lovely Kris Kristofferson tune "Bobby McGee and I"?
I'm going to take a capture of this headline and post it to Facebook the next time you go all copy editor on some unsuspecting soul.
He can't be a copyeditor ALL the time, Dana. He has to have a life.
There's a song that would tie this post and the last one together fabulously.
https://youtu.be/N-L-PYnW8Uc
Dana: Please do. I've had an apt reply ready for almost five years.
That post was a joke aimed squarely at the sorts of people who copy edit songs. Unfortunately, not only were some of the commenters ignorant of English grammar, and condescending about it in the bargain, but the humorous intent of the post went right over their heads. Happily you are guilty of none of those sins.
"Me and my English peeps" is not only correct colloquial speech, it violates no rule of traditional grammar, according to which "I" is the first-person singular subject and "me" the first-person singular object. Where is the evidence that I intended "me" as the subject? You saw the phrase "Me and my English peeps at Bouchercon New Orleans," and assumed I intended something like "Me and my English peeps ARE at Bouchercon," in which "me" would function as the subject, making the sentence wrong, according to traditional rules. But the hypothetical sentence can be equally imagined as "HERE ARE me and my English peeps at Bouchercon," in which case "me" is the object, making the sentence correct, according to traditional rules.
Verdict: The title is correct according both to colloquial speech and traditional rules. Seana to the contrary, I can be a copy editor all the time. I can also be correct most of the time. In this case I am both.
Seana: Thanks for the song. I had forgotten that one.
I didn't mean you couldn't be. I meant you shouldn't have to be.
I picked the Judy Garland at random, though in my head the song isn't quite so melancholy.
I always am, always have been, and my insistence that things always be correct ... well, let's say I have had to stifle it at work more than occasionally. But I enjoyed this exercise, because it tests an incorrect interpretation of what some people imagine to be a rule, and puncturing that sort of thing is always fun. Of course, I would never bother to correct people like my former boss, who would say things like "It's to talk about you and I and the work flow."
But you know, you should still hang with Dana at convention and read his books. He's a good guy and a good writer. He just needs a copy editor sometimes.
Oh, I have read his excellent books, and met him at both conventions. Hope to hang out with him more next time round.
Wellp layed, sir. Well played.
Ha Next time I'll say you're a gentleman as well as a good guy and a good writer.
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