More on Limbaugh

In response to last week’s Rush-English Dictionary post, we have received more emails¹ than almost any other form of communication. Therefore, in the absence of further snarky comments about Rush, we feel completely justified in posting something totally unrelated.

Note that in the preceding paragraph, we used the term “we,” even though we’re only one person. We do this in the grand tradition of The Royal “We” and The Editorial “We” in English. (In French, it’s probably Le “Nous” Royale or something like that, though it’s tempting to think of it as Le “Oui” Royale.) The Royal “We” is when a monarch uses “We” to convey the idea that he or she is speaking for the whole country, or at least for the immediate circle of corrupt and incompetent advisers. Political candidates also use this locution in an attempt to appear multitudinous. Similarly, the Editorial “We” is intended to make it sound like a piece of writing is endorsed by a whole editorial board, or at least more than just one renegade writer.

In our case, we just use “We” to make ourselves sound important. You could think of it as The Pretentious “We,” or simply The P “We” for short. Further evidence of this pretentiousness includes the use of “The” in the title of this blog, henceforth known as The Pretentious “The.”

¹One.