"Than me" versus "than I am"

More than 0.1% would realize it was wrong, but it woudn't be like nails on a backboard.

But I'm with Yankee, it woud be CLEARLY wrong in formal writing.

I don't think more than 0.1% of native speakers would bat an eyelash if they heard "Jessica is prettier than me".

I agree, provided it's not you saying it.

CJ

No.  You should conclude that both are correct and that most grammarians will insist that "Jessica is prettier than I" is better, even though many important authors have used "... than me",  which is also what people very often say in everyday conversations, and which is contrary to what the grammarians recommend.

CJ

Than ought to be used as either a demonstrative pronoun or a conjunction. In the sentence 'Jessica is prettier than me', it is being used as a conjunction. This conjunction usually occurs after a comparative adjective or adverb. In this case, it occurs after better, which is a comparative adjective. Conjunctions join two clauses and a clause must have a verb, thus the second clause, which is simply 'me', must have an implied verb. The implied verb is the copular and, when included, the sentence reads thus: 'Jessica is prettier than is me'.

The inclusion of the missing verb causes most English speakers to see the problem instantly: the accusative (objective) case of the pronoun is used when the nominative (subjective) case ought to be used. The copular does not follow the same rules as most other verbs in that it does not take a noun in the accusative case as its direct object. In fact, the direct object of the copular verb ought to be in the nominative case. Hence, our sentence ought to be: 'Jessica is pretter than I am', which is commonly reduced to: 'Jessica is pretter than I'.

'Who is it? It is me.'
Ought to be I.

I reject the conclusion that 'Jessica is prettier than me' is the better choice. It is, perhaps, the more common choice in informal contexts such as speech or informal writing. It is my opinion that, even in informal contexts, one ought to strive to be as correct as possible.

"Jessica is prettier than she." doesn't sound correct, following the format "Jessica is prettier than I."

In an elliptical clause, some words are omitted because they are understood. Sentences with elliptical clauses are often used to draw comparisons. Such sentences are usually divided into two parts connected by than or as:

Fran is smarter than he. / Dave is as happy as I.

If the words left out come after the pronoun, use a nominative pronoun because it is the subject of the omitted verb. It the words left out come before the pronoun, use an objective pronoun because the pronoun will be an object.

Steve taught us more than she (did.)

Steve taught us more than (he taught) her.