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The Royal 'We'

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posted on Oct, 29 2006 @ 05:15 PM
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Why do all politicians nowadays seem to use this..."When we get to Washington, we'll do this and that."

"We believe in truth and niceness." etc,etc,etc....





posted on Oct, 30 2006 @ 05:14 PM
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I hadn't noticed it myself, but I suspect it comes from trying to convey support of the rest of your ticket. (Like, I can't do it alone, I need MY running mates with me to make this happen).

I've never seen it used outside of the local level, where is when it counts. Like on a Town Board where it is useless to elect one person you like if you don't give them the rest of their ticket so they aren't a lame duck with no quorum and no ability to affect change.

I'll keep my eyes peeled to see this in action and let you know.



posted on Nov, 26 2006 @ 10:08 AM
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Originally posted by djohnsto77
Why do all politicians nowadays seem to use this..."When we get to Washington, we'll do this and that."

"We believe in truth and niceness." etc,etc,etc....






ThereĀ“s a big difference in the examples you name:

The "we" used by royals or other persons with an exalted position in the society. It is correctly called the "Pluralis majestatis". This "we" however always refers to a SINGLE person (as in "We, the pope") - regardless of whether that person also stands for society as a whole (like some monarchs consider themselves to be the essence of the state).

The "we" used by politicians or other "mundane" persons persons however comes in two different forms:
The "pluralis modestiae" is used when a person wants to emphasize that he is part of a group with similar intentions (like his party/department/company...) and/or to be decent about his position within that organization or influence on the matter at hand. In your example, the" When we get to Washington,...." clearly indicates this pluralis modestiae, as the speaker defines himself as only a part of a group.

Another from often used is the "pluralis auctoris", which is used when the speaker/author wants to include his audience into his intentions... Example : "We have to fight global warming now!"

Both of these forms are very established in rethorics, but have little in common with the intentions of the "Royal We".



posted on Nov, 27 2006 @ 01:05 AM
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Now that ^^^ is a nice answer indeed.

Just about the best I've seen here yet.





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