The Royal We

If television is to be believed…and, I mean, come on..everything on television is true… then the concept of the “Royal We” was first used by Queen Victoria of England. Apparently she liked to say things such as “WE are not amused!” when referring to how she felt. This concept was later adopted by hospital nurses everywhere. Example: “And how are WE feeling today?” You see what I mean?

I’ve noticed recently that its usage seems to be on the rise. However, it seems to take two distinct forms. Case in point: A co-worker plopped herself down in the chair on the other side of my desk and said, “WE have a problem!”

“Okay, what is “our” problem?” I asked.

“All of these invoices got posted in the wrong period and messed everything up! Bob is freaking out! WE need to figure out how to fix it.”

“Hmmm…let me see if I understand this. YOU posted the invoices in the wrong period, and YOU need to find a way to fix them?” I questioned.

She replied, apparently oblivious to my emphatic pronoun: “Yes, exactly. How are WE going to fix this mess?”

This is what I refer to as the “If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me” use of the Royal WE. This is most commonly employed by mid level employees and small children with younger siblings.

The other common usage I’ve noticed is the attempt made by someone to hijack credit that does not belong to them. For example, you are having friends over for dinner and decide to try a new, complicated dish. One of your guests compliments you and before you can say thank you, your husband pipes up and says “Oh, it’s nothing. WE thought it would be nice to try something different, so WE looked at a few recipes and WE decided to go with this one.”

Really? Were you even in the house when any of this happened? Because I’m pretty sure you were out golfing while I was slaving away in the kitchen coming up with this! That is when you want to smile sweetly and say something like, “Yes honey. Tell everyone how WE came up with this recipe!”, then watch him squirm. But that would be childish, and I would never resort to that!  : )