Subject-Verb agreement with compound subjects

[Carol]

Carol earlier:
<snip>
> Possibly I was unclear and ought to have said, "if one noun or
pronoun takes a singular verb and the other takes a plural verb, the
verb agrees with the nearest noun," which is exactly what your
authority, whose credentials may or may not include a PhD in English,
also says. <sniP>

Carol again:

Apologies for responding to myself, but I want to add that Goddlefrood
*may* be confusing "and" with "or." The compound subject "he *and* I"
takes the plural verb "are" because it involves more than one person.
"He *or* I" remains singular, so it takes a singular verb (only one
person or the other will perform the action or be linked to the
predicate nominative/adjective. However, a problem arises when a "to
be" verb is involved because the singular form of "to be" differs
according to first, second, or third person. Either "he or I is" or
"he or I am" sounds stupid, though the second is technically correct
(in a compound subject joined by "or," the verb agrees in number with
the nearest noun or pronoun). "He or I are" is just wrong. "You or I
are" is also wrong, but "I or you are" would be correct if we didn't
have the "rule" that "I" should be placed last (a matter of custom and
courtesy, not grammar).

At any rate, I do know what I'm talking about, just as I'm sure you
know what you're talking about when it comes to matters of law.

Carol, hoping that the explanation is clearer now and noting that your
being mistaken should not upset you--a lot of people are unaware of
that particular rule