|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
addict
|
OP
addict
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631 |
I've never heard of this word before. According to my source: "The word for the habit of referring to oneself excessively in the third person singular is "illeism" (from Latin "ille" meaning "he").
Hydra finds this so annoying. He wonders what the point is.
I seem to recall an episode of Seinfeld about this. Can anyone remember?
Edit: After all that I forgot my question!
Question: Is there a word for the "we" people use to mean "you" as in "Are we enjoying ourselves, hm?"
Hydra also finds this annoying.
And by the way, "illeism" was coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge!
Last edited by Hydra; 11/08/06 03:38 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
January 03, 2006
the worthless word for the day is: illeism
[fr. L. ille : he, that one, that + Eng. -ism]
/IL e ism/ orig. a nonce word of Coleridge,
until jerked into current usage in referring
to pop icons, such as certain sports figures,
who became illeists; e.g., Herschel Walker,
Bo Jackson
excessive use of third person pronoun, esp. in
reference to oneself; by extension, referring to
oneself by name; hence illeist, one who does this
"For one piece of egotism.. there are fifty that
steal out in the mask of tuisms and ille-isms."
- Samuel Coleridge, The Friend (1809-10)
"Bo doesn't like that."
- Bo Jackson (somewhen in the 80s)
"In the published novel, Grimes relation with
Clutterbuck emerges from a series of coyly
teasing hints, and his dull admission 'I've never
really been attracted to women' becomes the
splendid illeism '"Women are an enigma," said
Grimes, "as far as Grimes in concerned"' - a
formula Waugh would often use again when
lost or despairing souls among his characters
reflect on themselves." (1998)
- Douglas L. Patey, The Life or Evelyn Waugh
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
addict
|
|
OP
addict
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631 |
Hydra thanks you.
What do you think the pronunciation should be? "LEE" or "LAY"? Stress on which syllable?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Quote:
January 03, 2006
the worthless word for the day is: illeism
a nonce word of Coleridge
Several times I saw "a nonce word " used in various threads. Nonce means "ät present" in old Enlglish: fore the nonce: for now. Yet it looks like on this board it is used in a different way. "A nonce word of Coleridge" , you say in your post. Do you mean by that a non existing or a nonsense word? Or maybe a new word?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
a word (as ringday in "four girls I know have become engaged today: this must be ringday") coined and used apparently to suit one particular occasion sometimes independently by different writers or speakers but not adopted into use generally <Coleridge coined mammonolatry in 1820 as a nonce word> <I still think I heard it, though so seldom that it had more or less the air of a nonce word -- S.T.Byington>
- Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster (W3)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Quote:
Hydra thanks you.
What do you think the pronunciation should be? "LEE" or "LAY"? Stress on which syllable?
/IL e ism/ tells me it would be pronounced like ILLEGAL
IL-e-ism
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Quote:
I seem to recall an episode of Seinfeld about this. Can anyone remember?
I do not recall the Seinfeld episode, but in the (also now past) TV show Becker - which starred Ted Danson - there was a character who always spoke as an illeist.
"Bob is very lonely"
"That is not for Bob"
"Bob would has been..."
His name was Bob, by the way.
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456 |
Although it has been suggested by certain elitist factions that an illeist tendency smacks of pomposity, it is quite the opposite. A good example is the great Senator Dole, who is far more humble than his stature warrants. Illeism can take on a political aspect, partly as backlash from overexposure to the 'what about me?' mentality. At least one AWAD poster does not find it disagreeable. 
ÅΓª╥┐↕§
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
AnnaStrophic was just saying to herself, "Yo, ASp, wonder when Aramis is gonna get himself over to this thread?" 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Quote:
Quote:
What do you think the pronunciation should be? "LEE" or "LAY"? Stress on which syllable?
/IL e ism/ tells me it would be pronounced like ILLEGAL
IL-e-ism
except that illegal is pronounced: il-LEE-gul
so although you got ILeizem about right, your like is lacking.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Huh?
IL-LEE-GULL, as you explained is what I was trying to propose.
Does that not answer the original question (LEE or LAY)?
You have confused/confounded me.
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
I read yours as proposing that illeism was pronounced "like" illegal; i.e., ILleism :: ILlegal, complete with misplaced emPHAsis.
sorry for the misunderstanding.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,316
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
621
guests, and
0
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
