A common practice of my teachers was to call on several students to go up to the blackboard and write examples of what was being taught. Once when it was my turn to be up there, we were asked to show how to correctly place a preposition in a sentence. The teacher had just quoted the law that we should never end a sentence with a preposition. Suddenly I realized that I hadn't been paying attention when I heard the teacher ask, "Russ!! Why are you not writing the example?" My poorly timed answer was, "I wasn't sure who you were talking to."
I or Me? Examples of standard usage are: "Who, me?" and "me too." It would sound non-fluent to try and substitute "I" in these examples. Other examples are: "with me," "as me" and "It's me." (see Introduction)
Can or May? Teachers insist that "may" be substituted in the question, "Can I go to the bathroom?" Although the primary meaning of "can" is "know how to," a secondary meaning is "have permission to." The false assumption here is that "can" and "may" are not commonly used interchangeably in this example. Although some prefer using "may" when writing formally, it is well established that the usage of "can" is standard. When the teacher would hypercorrect the question and say, "May I go to the bathroom?" our response should have been, "Do we need to ask each other?"
Who or Whom? Many have predicted that "whom" will become archaic, however, "Whom" is quite persistent in modern usage. Some hypercorrection has confused some about the proper use as seen in the phrase, "did not know who or whom" Sooner or later you will be hypercorrected if say something like, "Who shall I say is calling?" Use whom if you are sure it is the direct object and if it sounds fluent.
Borrow, Lend, or Loan? Borrow means to receive and lend means to give. Some dialects use "borrow" instead of "lend," "Borrow me some money?" "Loan" as a synonym for "lend" is a standard verb. "Lend" is preferred in figurative statements like "Lend me a hand."
Alright is a standard one-word spelling of the phrase, "all right." (This is one of many examples when the spell checker does not recognize standard words). Another example is "anymore."
It's alright to use "or" with "neither," but some will prefer "nor." It's also alright to use "neither" in reference to more than two.
It is not wrong to say, "I feel good." Some may insist that you use the word "well."
"Blame it on me," or "blame me for it" are both standard forms.
Although it is not wrong to use "comprise" as a synonym for "compose" or constitute," it may be safer to stick with "compose" or use the phrase "make up."
Allow flexibility for the placement of "only" in a sentence. Sentence stress will avoid ambiguity. In written form which is much more common because of the text on the Internet, it is best to place "only" immediately before the word it modifies.
"Awful" commonly means "objectionable," in spite of the obvious etymology (full of awe). Another common use as an adjective means "very" as in the saying, "awful pretty." "Pretty can likewise be used as an adjective to mean "in some degree" as "pretty ugly" (or "pretty awful").
Lawyers and grammarians will insist that you cannot "rob a house" or "rob money." Their version is of course, "burglarize a house" and "steal money."