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Joined: Jul 2008
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2 |
In the example usage given for todays's word (royal we, 15 July), surely our Mick is using "we" inclusively, to mean everyone in his immediate location (including himself), rather than referring to himself alone (the royal usage). A better example might have been Margaret Thatcher's "We have become a grandmother..." (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107590).
Best, Mike
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Joined: Mar 2006
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Mar 2006
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Exactly, Mike, You beat me to it by 35 minutes and 1 second!!
Pete
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Joined: Jul 2008
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jul 2008
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We are not impressed. How this particular usage could have been misused perplexes us.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
It looks to me more like the nurse's we, as in "How are we this morning?" asked while the patient is coming out of a drug-induced sleep, not having quite recovered from the anesthetic of the major operation.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
‘In the absence of the accused we will continue with the trial.’.. He used the royal ‘we’, but he spoke for us all.
- John Rae, The Custard Boys
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Joined: Jul 2008
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jul 2008
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I suddenly retreated 46 years to my days as editor of my high school paper, in which I had written the following headline for page one of the the first issue: "Homecoming couple reigns supreme!" When I read Gaynor Flynn's comments about the Rolling Stones from The Sun Herald ("Sir Mick leads the way, a smirk on those impossibly exaggerated lips. 'How are we all?' he asks. It's appropriate he uses the royal we -- after all, they've reigned supreme for almost half a century.") I could hear my journalism adviser's tongue clicking: "Jerr, Jerr -- if they 'reign' then they ARE 'supreme' -- you don't need BOTH words!"
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
the nurse's weSome languages distinguish between an inclusive we and an exclusive we, depending on whether second person is part of the we or not ( link on clusivity).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
A funny take on the royal we is in the movie "Blazing Saddles." Gene Wilder (Jim The Waco Kid) has just awoken in jail and is being addressed by Cleavon Little (Sherrif Bart), who is black:
SHERRIF BART: Are we awake?
JIM THE WACO KID: We're not sure. Are we black?
SHERRIF BART: Yes we are.
JIM THE WACO KID: Then we're awake, but we're very puzzled.
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Joined: Jul 2008
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2 |
Like it Alex, and it reminds me:
The Dude: We dropped off the damn money...
The Big Lebowski: We?
The Dude: I! The Royal "we"! You know, the editorial...
Best, Mike
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
And we will weep
To be so alone
We are lost!
We can never go home
From Gollums song.
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