The generous, broad-spirited readers of NRO — most of them, anyway –
have forgiven me for suggesting that the female bust is at its prime
before 20, and for my outrageous and scientifically counterintuitive
suggestion that Ma Nature may have made the human female visually
appealing to the human male from puberty onwards; but subscriptions
are being canceled right and left over my having posted the phrase:
“that picture of my wife & I…” Should be “of my wife and me,” of
course. Sorry, sorry, but you don’t get much editing on a blog, and
this is fugitive stuff we write here.
I place the blame for this particular solecism on H.M. Queen Elizabeth
II. This fine lady has always been wont to preface her royal
utterances with: “My husband and I…,” and I spent my formative
years hearing this particular locution relentlessly lampooned. Her
Majesty was of course speaking in the nominative, and so was correct.
Even if she had been speaking in some other case, in fact, she would
still have been correct, since it’s “The Queen’s English,” so whatever
the Queen says is correct by definition. If she had said “my husband
and I” in any case other than the nominative, or for that matter “my
husband and blomfatnixyopth,” all loyal subjects would have had to
adjust their syntax accordingly.
(While I’m posting, I should like to extend my heartfelt appreciation
to the lone reader, or at any rate lone emailer, who got the Jerry Lee
Lewis reference, and the same to the different lone reader who emailed
in to thank me for having used the word “lagniappe.”)
OK, gotta go, Ally is waiting.