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When a member posted a grammatically correct question today for scrutiny, I replied in 'comments,'

No mistake, but only bemused grammarians and humble myself!

Now I wonder: is "humble myself" a grammatically or idiomatically sound way to refer to oneself in an expression of personal modesty? My father says it all the time, as in

"the only Ph.D holder in this august audience is humble myself."

I could not find this expression on google search, which is dominated by the religious verb "to humble oneself/yourself/myself (before the Lord)" -- that is why I am asking this question here.

Two kind senior members replied in the same comments section:

@EnglishStudent: to me, "my humble self" sounds more natural. But in "the only Ph.D holder in this august audience is humble myself/my humble self" it looks like false modesty. – sumelic

@English Student: I've read "my humble self" in British literature, but it sounds very old-fashioned. I've never heard "humble myself" in the way you are using it (native speaker of US English here, mainly BosWash corridor) -- but I would not be confused if I heard it. – ab2

My father says it is an old-fashioned courtly British way of referring to oneself, whether with real or false modesty (and in the case of the Ph.D, some real sarcasm, because none of the other so-called luminaries at a particular conference had a doctorate, except for "humble himself!") -- he learnt his English in newly post-independent India, mainly by reading his medical textbooks and British literature.

It may well have become an archaic expression.

What I want to know is whether you experts at EL & U have heard it before, and can say if it is idiomatically sound?

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English Student
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    It could just be me, but speaking for myself, I would take a look at this post: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/20151/when-to-use-me-or-myself – RaceYouAnytime Apr 25 '17 at 00:00
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    As others mentioned, I've heard "my humble self" but not "humble myself" which, out of context, sounds as if humble is being used as a verb. – Roger Sinasohn Apr 25 '17 at 00:00
  • I don’t think it’s correct. ... is humble me. ... is my humble self also sounds better. It doesn’t look like it’s common in British literature: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=is+humble+myself&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url= – Jim Apr 25 '17 at 00:01
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    The 'humble' certainly sounds like a verb when read out of context; it is, of course, used as adjective in 'humble myself.' – English Student Apr 25 '17 at 00:03
  • Thank you RaceYouAnytime for the link to an earlier question "me or myself" which yielded this citation: "Myself occurs only rarely as a single subject in place of I: Myself was the one who called. (...)mainly poetic or literary. It is also uncommon as a simple object in place of me: Since the letter was addressed to myself, I opened it. As part of a compound subject/object/complement (it is common in informal speech & letters but) less common in more formal speech and writing: The manager and myself completed the arrangements. There is ample precedent(...)for all these uses." – English Student Apr 25 '17 at 00:15
  • @EnglishStudent There might be ample precedent for the usages you quote but they are are clumsy, pretentious and should be avoided at all costs. "Myself" is the reflexive form used when you are doing something to or for the benefit of yourself as in "I dressed myself " or "I cooked myself a meal", the 'correct' and precise thing to do is to use "I" or "me" depending on the context unless the sentence is reflexive. – BoldBen Apr 25 '17 at 17:34
  • Thanks for the suggestion! I would not use any such usages in general English myself, but hundreds of archaic/ awkward/ idiosyncratic usages are part of my/our linguistic consciousness and I do believe they enrich the language with their variety and even clumsiness! Certainly not recommended for plain English, but only when the situation affords 'linguistic latitude!' – English Student Apr 25 '17 at 18:22
  • @English Student Thanks for the acceptance. I've been away since April 29, and this was a nice surprise! – ab2 May 10 '17 at 00:54
  • It sounds so much like the latter. Archaic I don't know. Idiomatic yes. If I heard it I would think it was dumb and process it as bad english. – Ralf Winchester Apr 25 '17 at 00:50

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Your father probably has a charming way with words, and although "humble myself" as he uses it is idiosyncratic, not idiomatic, he has not stretched English to its elastic limit -- to use the term from your bio. He should continue using this phrase, because it pleases him and no doubt his listeners.

idiosyncratic, from Dictionary.com:

pertaining to the nature of idiosyncrasy, or something peculiar to an individual: The best minds are idiosyncratic and unpredictable as they follow the course of scientific discovery

ab2
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  • Thank you for the thoughtful and well-considered answer! – English Student Apr 25 '17 at 00:23
  • It now seems to me that my father individually or Indian teachers/ writers/ orators in general might have re-interpreted my humble self as humble myself. It is indeed a charming expression in speech and (to me) pleasing when I write it in a comment, as in "no mistake, but only bemused grammarians and humble myself", which now reminds me of "...and there you shall find ten bodies and an unsolved mystery," from the final line of Dame Agatha's all time bestseller "And Then There Were None" -- Oh, how we do love our pet words and phrases! – English Student Apr 25 '17 at 00:33