Transcription

A Twitter post by Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz that reads Whenever I scold my cat, I use the royal we" so she doesn’t feel so ashamed. “We don’t eat that. We don’t chew on electrical cords," I say. It’s as if I, too, have a problem with eating wires or plastic I found on the floor and she and I are working on that problem together.

  • kevincox@lemmy.ml
    46·
    20 hours ago

    No, this is the right meaning royal we. If you say “we are going into battle” it is talking about the person being talked to not the person talking. So in this case “We don’t eat that” would be implying that the cat doesn’t eat that, not actually saying anything about the speaker even though “we” would imply they are included.

    • tomcatt360@lemmy.zipEnglish
      17·
      19 hours ago

      Its a nosism, but its not a royal we because it is refering to both the speaker and the cat. I believe the Wikipedia page refers to this usage as the patronizing we.

      • kevincox@lemmy.ml
        34·
        19 hours ago

        I guess it depends how you look at it. From my point of view the speaker isn’t actually talking about themselves. That is the “royal” part. And I mean she does say “as if” to back up that yes, she is not actually including herself.

        • 3abas@lemmy.world
          2·
          11 hours ago

          The “royal we” refers to royalty referring to themselves individually in the plural form.

        • Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works
          91·
          18 hours ago

          The royal “we” refers to me (the speaker) and my majesty. It does not include other people.

          This is also why people don’t ask royalty anything about themselves directly, but always ask about their majesty or some other grandiose trait appropriate to their station. It’s honestly funny how ridiculous people can get with their boot licking that this is still considered normal.

        • Alaknár@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          102·
          19 hours ago

          That is the “royal” part

          But it’s not.

          We, the king, say this with all authority - the “royal we” is used when one wants to say “I” but make it sound more grandiose and important.

          What the woman in the OP describes is the “patronising we”. Yes, it’s also a nosism, but it’s very much not the “royal we”.

    • dil@lemmy.zip
      3·
      19 hours ago

      no its like when a business uses we but it’s all just one person, like webdevs, I know theres a email hoster that uses we all over his site except one section where he specifies it’s the royal we and just him