# The use of 'me' as a possessive pronoun **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715 "2017-11-15T21:02:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/1 "2017-11-15T21:02:31Z")
Is ‘me’ as a possessive pronoun limited to northern England? I’ve only heard it in Liverpool and Newcastle. This usage has been made famous in The Beatles song, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/2 "2017-11-15T21:06:49Z")
Wait, are you saying that the song title means “Can’t Buy My Love”? And not “I can’t use money to buy love”?? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/3 "2017-11-15T21:16:47Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Is ‘me’ as a possessive pronoun limited to northern England? I’ve only heard it in Liverpool and Newcastle. This usage has been made famous in The Beatles song, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” While I agree that in some dialects “me” is used in place of “my”, the Beatles song you mention is NOT an example of it: > [@](#): > > I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright > I’ll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright > Cos I don’t care too much for money, and money can’t buy me love In other words, I’ll buy you whatever you want because I don’t care about money, since it can’t buy love (for me). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/4 "2017-11-15T21:21:53Z")
Yes: Can’t by love for me; not can’t buy my love. Isn’t it a stereotypical Irish thing, too? And from there to Australia? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/5 "2017-11-15T21:22:10Z")
That’s certainly perfect usage, but what I get a kick out of is the slang usage like “I’m going to play me guitar.” I love that affection. 😌 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/6 "2017-11-15T21:42:53Z")
I don’t think it’s correct to call this usage “slang” or an “affectation”. It’s a dialectical variant. It would be equally erroneous to call “y’all” in the southern US or non-rhoticity in Boston an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/7 "2017-11-15T21:53:09Z")
I can’t find it now, but years ago when this notion came up, a board regular (don’t recall who) opined that when the Beatles sang “Love, love me do” they were not inviting the listener to become fond of the singer’s hair styling. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/8 "2017-11-15T21:54:18Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Is ‘me’ as a possessive pronoun limited to northern England? I’ve only heard it in Liverpool and Newcastle. I’ve heard it in Popeye cartoons. > [@](#): > > This usage has been made famous in The Beatles song, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” As others have said, no: the “me” in “can’t buy me love” is an indirect object. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/9 "2017-11-15T22:00:16Z")
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK0R272RjXI) Beatles reference works, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/10 "2017-11-15T22:03:43Z")
Great. Now I’m going to think about pirates every time I hear that song. Ye canna buy me love, matey. Yarrr. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/11 "2017-11-15T22:25:33Z")
[Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_Me_Kangaroo_Down,_Sport) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/12 "2017-11-15T22:50:58Z")
I’m pretty sure that when people do use ‘me’ as a possessive in various dialects it’s just the original pronunciation of ‘my’. After all, ‘my’ would have been pronounced that way by all English speakers before the great vowel shift around 600 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/13 "2017-11-15T22:56:15Z")
“Me brain hurts!” -_Gumby Theatre_, Monty Python ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/14 "2017-11-15T22:58:11Z")
Where did the usage “recommend me \” come from? Never sounds right to me. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/15 "2017-11-15T23:00:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m pretty sure that when people do use ‘me’ as a possessive in various dialects it’s just the original pronunciation of ‘my’. > > After all, ‘my’ would have been pronounced that way by all English speakers before the great vowel shift around 600 years ago. Interesting. Do we know if the ‘me’ pronunciation is preserved from that time, or if it shifted to ‘my’ and then shifted back to ‘me’ later? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/16 "2017-11-15T23:06:02Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Interesting. Do we know if the ‘me’ pronunciation is preserved from that time, or if it shifted to ‘my’ and then shifted back to ‘me’ later? IANA linguist, but my guess is that it’s never changed. Scots still has lots of pronunciations which I think date from before the great vowel shift, like ‘hoose’ for ‘house’, so it wouldn’t be surprising to find them in other parts of Britain. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/17 "2017-11-15T23:08:02Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > I’m pretty sure that when people do use ‘me’ as a possessive in various dialects it’s just the original pronunciation of ‘my’. > > After all, ‘my’ would have been pronounced that way by all English speakers before the great vowel shift around 600 years ago. It was OK, but I didn’t think it was _that_ great. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/18 "2017-11-15T23:09:38Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Where did the usage “recommend me \” come from? Never sounds right to me. What you’re talking about is the ditransitive usage of “recommend,” which some speakers do find problematic. By “ditransitive,” I mean it is able to take both a direct and indirect (or primary and secondary) object. An example of a completely unobjectionable ditransitive verb is “give.” “Give me the book.” Some (perhaps many) speakers find similar usage of “recommend” unobjectionable (I use the construction naturally myself.) As for how far back it goes, looking through Google books, I find constructions like that in the 1800s. Actually, [here’s one as early as 1780](https://books.google.com/books?id=P1s3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22recommend+me+a%22&dq=%22recommend+me+a%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7qpqW2cHXAhVqw4MKHQxBDZcQ6AEIKDAA): > [@](#): > > Hold: Can you recommend me a lawyer? > Sir Jacob: A lawyer! > Hold: Yes, to disinherit that monster before I sleep. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/19 "2017-11-15T23:21:03Z")
Thanks **pulykamell**. I grew up hearing things like “recommend a book to me”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715/20 "2017-11-15T23:24:08Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Thanks **pulykamell**. I grew up hearing things like “recommend a book to me”. I’m sure it varies by region, social groups, etc. I grew up in a neighborhood where hearing things like “hey, can you borrow me a buck, chief?” was normal, so the “recommend me” construction is particularly unnoticed by me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-me-as-a-possessive-pronoun/801715.md?page=2)