When did people begin this annoying and innappropriate use of the word "we"?
Asked by
josie (
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November 11th, 2010
Over the past decade or so, I have noticed something that really gets under my skin. It is the use of the word “we” when discussing certain people’s behaviours.
For example; Studies show that we continue to smoke too much
Or; Experts say that we eat too much meat
Or even worse; Our children watch too much TV
I beg your damn pardon.
Anytime you say we, that includes me.
And if you are saying what other people do, but I do not, then you are including me in something where I do not deserve to be included, for better or for worse.
And I don’t like it.
And just for the record, I know why.
It is just one more not so subtle attempt to beguile people into imagining that there is this large, amorphous organism called society that sort of has a mind of its own and demands that we act in accordance to its whims.
But anyway, where specifically did this start?
When was the first time you noticed it?
Does it bother you?
If so, why?
If not, why not?
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23 Answers
I’ve noticed it forever. I believe people feel that if they use the term “we” they avoid seeming accusatory toward someone else. For example, there are five staff members and an office manager where I work. One staff member is late almost every day. Instead of sending an email to her, the office manager sent an email to all of us that read something like this:
“This is just a reminder that we all need to make an effort to be at work on time every day. We owe it to the firm to arrive at work in a timely manner and blah blah blah.” You get the idea. I once asked her why she felt the need to email us all and talk about “we” instead of just dealing individually with the offending employee. She said she didn’t want to “single anyone out.” So, there is the reasoning. It’s totally ridiculous, but there you have it. If you say “we” then supposedly no one can be offended or feel singled out.
[I’d like to add that the office manager’s email angered all the employees who were always on time and allowed the guilty party to act as if she was oblivious that the email was directed at her. Great solution there. She’s still late every day and we’re still annoyed]
Royalty probably. Like when the Queen takes a piss, it’s known as the “royal wee.”
At the same time that they started sentences with “they.”
We’ve never noticed it ourselves.
People (some people, not all people) have been generalizing since they started communicating in something more articulate than grunts. Does it annoy me? Sure. IT ANNOYS US ALL!
It’s generic pronoun usage to convey information in an inclusive manner instead of using statistics that either may not be available as of yet or which are available and just make people get glassy eyes.
My mother has always sworn obedience to the “they”‘s.
They told us to wear woolen suits to Synagogue after Labor Day, even when the temperature reads 90˚,
They say that girls are not allowed to shave their legs until they are <arbitrary age>.
They do not allow nice women to use the traditional profanities.
They say that you have to ask Daddy.
They hope that you will neither be too good at school, too assertive, or too athletic. They warn you never to beat a boyfriend on the tennis courts.
The we is like the royal we, a community, so to speak. If you realize the interconnectedness of all living things you will see that the children are “our” children and the health problems of “our” community affect us all.
I never have a problem. You all, including myself do. IE We.
Using “we” in that way, especially in regard to problems, is a way of making the problem belong to everyone; a sort-of “awareness” thing. Using “they” is sort of the opposite, usually used to describe some unknown malevolent conniving force against you.
They were using the “Royal We”, you know, the editorial? I dropped off the money…
(Alright, so some of you haven’t memorized the Big Lebowski, but for those who have, that was damn funny…)
We don’t appreciate you trying to buck the trend.
Even more annoying is the medical “we”. “How are we feeling today?” “Did we take our medications?”
It’s so patronizing and I wish I knew who started it so I could go back in time and prevent it.
Are we a bit miffed with this question?
I’m not defending the practice, which is, I think, intended to be inclusive because neither exclusion nor finger-pointing is PC these days, and we don’t have an all-purpose generic pronoun like German’s handy “man” other than the archaic-sounding “one”—so it’s pretty hard to know what we can say. But I must disagree with this:
Anytime you say we, that includes me.
If I say “We’re having Thanksgiving at our house this year,” sorry, but that doesn’t include you.
If I say “We’re thinking of trading in the old Saturn this year,” that means my husband and I.
If I say, “We’re getting ready to launch a new product,” you’ll infer that I mean the company I work for.
And if I say “We sure will be glad to see a change of leadership style in Sacramento,” you’ll probably guess correctly that I’m talking about the majority of citizens of my state.
In other words, “we” is defined by context.
Listen to yourself the next six times you say “we” and consider whether you really are speaking of all humankind.
Incidentally, I think this usage of “we” as universal is very, very old. Look to religious documents such as the Book of Common Prayer for one set of examples that goes back hundreds of years.
Look, we know that you’re upset about this, but just calm down, all right? We’re coming to get you right now. Let’s just be patient, shall we?
It’s the altruistic catch-all.Everyone is lowered to the least common denominator without exception….or I could assume royal prose and say that “we” don’t like this.You’re dismissed! XD :)
The question is, do we have a proposal for a new word that means “everybody except @josie”?
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