# Grammatically-incorrect pet peeve

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammatically-incorrect-pet-peeve/417591>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 31, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammatically-incorrect-pet-peeve/417591 "2007-08-31T05:31:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammatically-incorrect-pet-peeve/417591/81 "2007-09-04T17:43:50Z")

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Speaking of grammar, [Sally](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlandos_d%27Amour) is a blow-up doll. Blow UP. :o

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**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammatically-incorrect-pet-peeve/417591/82 "2007-09-04T18:09:33Z")

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[QUOTE=Martin Sable]  
I’ve noticed a general trend of avoiding or minimizing the use of the word “I,” and I’m not sure where it comes from. Often there are posts that start, “Bought the new Harry Potter book today…” or “Picked up my kid after the first day or school…” Why not say “I bought” or “I picked up”?

Sometimes it’s a sentence where the dropped pronoun could apply equally well to “I” or “we,” and you don’t find out which until later in the paragraph.

I wonder if this has something to do with not wanting to appear too egotistical by overusing the word I. Perhaps substituting “hopefully” for “I hope” has the same cause.  
[/QUOTE]

I noticed this first in Bridget Jones’ Diary and the various ads that mimicked the narrative style after it became popular.

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