Subject-Verb agreement with compound subjects

[Goddlefrood]

> CJ much earlier:
> "Either he or I ____ going."

> Carol:
> You're correct that the verb in an "or" phrase agrees with the 
> nearest noun or pronoun.
 
> CJ (Now):
> This is not a rule I'd ever heard -- let alone been taught 

Goddlefrood:

I'm not a grammarian and know very little about the rules of 
grammar per se. I do know that the answer to the above would 
be to insert 'are'. Then it sounds right. Any inserion of other 
possible conjugations of the verb to be would sound wrong to a 
native of the benighted isles, even were he residing in the 
Clundy or indeed on its other side.