An English-language mistake that I frequently hear in conversations, speeches, and even in interviews with President Obama, is the incorrect use of 'myself' instead of 'me' or 'I.' To paraphrase the President, on more than one occasion he has said: "...was given to Michelle and myself," instead of "to Michelle and me." Also, we hear others say: "my friend and myself" as the subject of a sentence instead of "my friend and I."
Myself, himself, itself, yourself, ourselves, themselves are reflexive pronouns that reflect back to the subject of the sentence. According to the 'rules,' if 'myself' is used in a sentence, the subject of the sentence must be 'I.' Similarly, if 'yourself' is used, the subject must be 'you.' For example: I saw it myself; you have yourself to blame.
However, according to the late William Safire in a syndicated column, "A word or phrase gains 'correctness' based on the First Principle of Descriptive Linguistics: If it sticks around, it's right." This is also true of pronunciation; one example is "forte" (a strong point or trait), which was originally pronounced as "fort," but evolved into the same pronunciation as its homographic musical term meaning loud or with force. Even the unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language now lists the pronunciation "for' tay" as the alternate choice.
Since English is a living language, some nonstandard words or phrases change into a new meaning and become accepted by many who are not language purists. In a future post, I plan to include an essay on the nonstandard use of a reflexive pronoun used as a depersonalizer; it is entitled, "The Discovery of the Subjunctive Pronoun" (my created label).
