Okay, so I have to say something about silly things people say, like “myself.”

Joe, Nancy and myself drove to the store.

Doesn’t that just sound weird? Yet I year people say crap like this all the time. I think they do it because they’re lost as to whether to say “I” or “me” in a sentence. Of course, it should be:

Joe, Nancy and I drove to the store.

It’s just a plural version of:

I drove to the store.

Switch it around, though, and people get confused.

Joe drove Nancy and myself to the store.

Weird! It should be:

Joe drove Nancy and me to the store.

Why? Because it’s just a plural version of:

Joe drove me to the store.

The rule is very simple: If it works for the singular, it works for the plural.

I drove to the store. Joe, Nancy and I drove to the store. Joe drove Nancy and me to the store.

Is there any time where you would use “myself” and not sound like a fool? Yes.

I drove myself to the store.

This differs from “I drove to the store” by specifying that I drove myself, as opposed to someone else driving me.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online puts it this way:

As for “myself,” see CMOS 5.48: “Compound personal pronouns … are used for two purposes: (1) for emphasis (they are then termed intensive pronouns) {I saw Queen Beatrice herself} {I’ll do it myself}; and (2) to refer to the subject of the verb (in which case they are termed reflexive pronouns) {he saved himself the trouble of asking} {we support ourselves}.”

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Go ahead, read this all again. Take your time. Yourself can thank myself later.