6 .
If you're interested in English and some of its best-known literature, you may well know of the 'Alice' books by Lewis Carroll (real name: Charles Lutwidge Dogdson) ~ who was in fact a teacher of mathematics and logic at the University of Oxford, about 150 years ago. The books are full of word-play (like the poem 'Jabberwocky') and logical tricks. At one point there is a poem about 'The Walrus and the Carpenter', which begins:
'The sun ... ... on the sea, Shining with all his might (...)
And this ... ... odd, because it was The middle of the night.'
... shone ... / ... was ...
... was shining ... / ... was being ...
... was shining ... / ... was ...
... shone ... / ... was being ...
Incidentally, the show title 'Me and My Girl' isn't quite 'proper English', because the man ('me') is a poor young man called Bill Snibson. He has been brought up in the East End of London and does not speak standard ('educated') English, where the correct phrase ~ as you probably knew! ~ would be 'My girl and I'! In the story he suddenly comes into a large amount of money and a big house in the country, and much of the comedy in the show is about the differences in behaviour and language between how he grew up and what is newly expected of him. This is also a leading theme in another famous musical, 'My Fair Lady'. The English aren't actually obsessed with this issue, but it makes for an interesting story (and lots of good songs)!