A Word A Day —royal we

This week’s theme: Words related to royalty.

royal we (ROI-uhl wee) noun

   The first-person plural pronoun used by a king or queen to refer to himself or herself, for example, “We are not amused,” a line attributed to Queen Victoria.

[From Latin nos (we). The practice of using “we” to refer to oneself is called nosism.]

As it’s often used by newspaper editors, the term is also known as the “editorial we”. Mark Twain once said, “Only kings, presidents, editors,
and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we’.”

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  “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.”
   Gaynor Flynn; They Still Gather No Moss; The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia); May 18, 2008.

………………………………………………………………….
There are none so sour as those who are sweet to order. -Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, essayist (1715-1747)

Share the magic of words. Send a gift sub: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html

Remove, change, or subscribe address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/royal_we.mp3

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/royal_we.html