this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
763 points (98.4% liked)

cats

27728 readers
786 users here now

Typical internet cats. Videos, pics, memes, and discussion welcome!

Rule 1) Be kind

Rule 2) Follow the lemmy.world rules

other cat communities

midwest.social cats

cats with jobs

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

TranscriptionA Twitter post by Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz that reads Whenever I scold my cat, I use the royal we" so she doesn't feel so ashamed. “We don't eat that. We don't chew on electrical cords," I say. It's as if I, too, have a problem with eating wires or plastic I found on the floor and she and I are working on that problem together.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] tomcatt360@lemmy.zip 17 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Its a nosism, but its not a royal we because it is refering to both the speaker and the cat. I believe the Wikipedia page refers to this usage as the patronizing we.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Petition to call it the peasant we

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

The catowner's we

[–] kevincox@lemmy.ml -2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I guess it depends how you look at it. From my point of view the speaker isn't actually talking about themselves. That is the "royal" part. And I mean she does say "as if" to back up that yes, she is not actually including herself.

[–] Alaknar@sopuli.xyz 9 points 4 months ago

That is the “royal” part

But it's not.

We, the king, say this with all authority - the "royal we" is used when one wants to say "I" but make it sound more grandiose and important.

What the woman in the OP describes is the "patronising we". Yes, it's also a nosism, but it's very much not the "royal we".

[–] Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The royal "we" refers to me (the speaker) and my majesty. It does not include other people.

This is also why people don't ask royalty anything about themselves directly, but always ask about their majesty or some other grandiose trait appropriate to their station. It's honestly funny how ridiculous people can get with their boot licking that this is still considered normal.

[–] 3abas@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

The "royal we" refers to royalty referring to themselves individually in the plural form.