I’ve worked in the editorial/journalism field for 25+ years, and YES I cringe. A lot. All day long - not just in college communications, but store signs, restaurant menus, etc. etc.
Most recent on a public university site: a “full compliment” of courses…
@twoinanddone, I’d wager that “myself” is used incorrectly much more often than correctly. I found this old post of mine on the topic:
I must say that I’m shocked that Barack Obama would use it that way. Perhaps it’s in an attempt to be folksy.
Quite ironic. In the real world, I completely dismiss resumes (yes many have typos, misspelling and poor grammar). Don’t even read them past the point of offense as I have no time for someone who would be that careless. I cringe at poorly written work emails and generally don’t consider the sender as a serious individual. the point is, words matter. Society seems to be straying away from some basic fundamentals and it’s sad.
I do think in the case of myself, that usage is evolving. Some sources are including subbing it for “I” or “me” into the definition.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/myself
That said, I have definitely crossed colleges off our list for poorly written communications. I think it’s pretty unforgivable for an institute of higher learning.
In Fall 2017 all the admitted students to UC Davis were greeted with an email that began, “Congratulations, Regina!” A short while later the same email but with student’s correct first name went out. And then a third went out apologizing for the snafu.
Here’s something cringeworthy-the son is getting emails from Baylor telling him to apply even though he is a college freshman. And if Baylor gets its info from College Board, something is definitely wrong.
The same thing happened to my daughter st a different university!
Is there anything to read into having received an invitation (solicitation?) to apply to a school’s honors college, after my son sent in his regular application, but before he’s even been accepted for regular admission? Or is this just a case of sloppy database management by these schools? This happened with two schools to which he has applied. Thanks.
“First Annual” is my personal pet peeve.
@IxnayBob , my sister and I have concluded you rarely have to use the word ‘myself’ (or its friends yourself, ourselves, etc). Just leave it off. I’m going to the beach by myself? Just say “I’m going to the beach.” ALONE!
Toddlers my need to say “I did it mysel!” but most adults do not need convey the ‘myself’ part. I brushed my teeth (myself).
It is not a fancy work for me.
parent989, the admissions to the honor college may be run by a different office than the admissions office, so they send their own invitation. You do have follow up on the invitation if you are interest in the honors college. A friend’s son sent in one application: was accepted A&S, wasn’t accepted to engineering, was invited to honors college.
While it may be somewhat unexpected, I personally don’t think this sort of ebonics should be a concern, particularly in a phone conversation.
My son visited a college he was very interested in. When we arrived he was told his admission’s counselor wasn’t available and he would be interviewing with another counselor. (These were not students interviewing.) She asked him what other schools he was interested in and then didn’t recognize a popular school one state over. The next day my son received an email from the admission’s counselor who wasn’t available. The email was addressed to a different student, relaying how much he enjoyed the interview and how he thought their school was a perfect match for the student’s talent and sport. My son was not impressed and the college dropped from his list.
It drives me crazy that my son continues to be bombarded with letters, flyers and fancy holographic postcards (2-4 at a time) from a University urging him to apply considering he has already applied EA and is awaiting a decision. Maybe the tuition wouldn’t be so high if they’d stop sending so much fancy, unnecessary mail.
^^ this ^^
D continues to get many glossy pieces from schools to which she has already applied–and to which she has already been accepted!
@sylvan8798 That’s not necessarily ebonics. I know plenty of white people who speak like that - including me for the “hisself” pronunciation. I would never WRITE “hisself”, but that’s how I say it due to my accent from where I grew up in rural middle America - and I haven’t lived there for over 30 years. “Hisself”, when I speak it, is like a contraction - either like " 'i’self" or " 'imself". It’s just a slurry lazy way of saying the word himself.
As for “he seen your email” or “I seen it on my desk yesterday” - I’ve heard that spoken (and seen it written) by white folks where I grew up and where I live now 30 miles outside of DC. That one I don’t use when speaking - I never did and I hate it. I think it’s generally considered to be “white red-necky” by most educated people that I know in both places.
re the honors invitations. It’s a way of telling a student s/he may be eligible and an incentive to go to that school. Better to know about how to apply, know about any essays, well before deadlines.
The secretary in question was indeed white. I find that “hisself” is a common term in this part of the South, used primarily by white people over 50.
There’s a university that DD got accepted to last year that we visited in the spring. Since then, I’ve been getting prospective student mailings. They added my son (a junior) to their list this year and so now we get two of everything - one for him and one for me!
@itsreallymia Holographic postcards = Northeastern? If so, same for my D who applied EA!