Languages you didn't know you borrow words from (1)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. A borrowing from French is our use of the object pronouns as emphatics

Germans will point to a picture of themselves and say, "Das ist ich." "That is I."

In the same situation, Norwegians say, "Det er jeg." "That is I."

French people say, "C'est moi," not "*C'est je."

Generations of English teachers told their students that they should say, "It's I," because that was supposedly "logical."

But ever since the Norman French invaded England, English speakers have said, "It's me."

We also say "Who, me?" where a German would say, "Wer, ich?" "Who, I?"

A French person would say, "Qui, moi?"