Transcript:
Am I speaking with whoever programs the iPhones auto-correct feature? That would be I. You mean “that would be me.” What’s the problem, sir? The auto-corrections make me look like an idiot. If I’m writing a long e-mail and I mistype a word … The phone automatically replaces it with what it thinks is correct, even if it’s completely wrong grammatically. Are you sure? Does “Hey, Gia, can’t wait to meat you at the potty, sincerely, Lemony” sound right to you? Sounds pretty forward, if you ask me, Lemony. But I guess you’d know her better than me. “Better than I.”
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January 31st, 2010
Take if form Time, that auto-correct can be annoying.
That's Mister Snicket to you, Otto!
Mmm. Lemony.
"That would be I" is correct in traditional grammar. It sounds absurd, but the rule was that if the main verb is "be," then the nominal complement would be in subject case. True story.
My mother explained this to me thusly in second/third grade:
The verb "to be" in English is the grammatical equivalent of an equals sign, so that what most people think of as the direct object is actually the equivalent of the subject. A = A, or: "that is I," "he is he," "that would have been they." Always, no matter how weirdly it scans compared to the usually-erroneous common use.
I think everyone would feel less confused if their teachers told them that in first grade. But then, not every teacher is as good a teacher as my mom was.