Grammar Nazi
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As the only English teacher living at my house, you might expect me to be the language police-but not so. Mr B is the grammar Nazi at our house-specifically the pronoun Nazi. Mr B has actually caused marital disharmony and social awkwardness over his ruthless desire to insure the correct pronoun gets inserted into the conversation.
As the only English teacher living at my house, you might expect me to be the language police-but not so. Mr B is the grammar Nazi at our house-specifically the pronoun Nazi. Mr B has actually caused marital disharmony and social awkwardness over his ruthless desire to insure the correct pronoun gets inserted into the conversation.
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For example, while socializing with friends the harmless question arises. “So what have you guys been up to lately?” And I absently remark, “Oh we’ve been painting the bedroom….” or “We’ve been cleaning out the garage….” or “We’ve been landscaping…” You get the idea. All three sentences share the same pronoun: we. This is when the drama begins and mild mannered Mr Boyd morphs into the pronoun Nazi. “What do you mean WE painted the bedroom?” (…or cleaned out the garage or landscaped, etc.) “Don’t you mean I painted the bedroom?” (…or cleaned out the garage or landscaped, etc.) And the incensed Mr B loudly outlines in graphic detail (with arms gesticulating) all the back breaking labor he has endured over said project to the stunned silence of his audience. Mind you-he is completely sober during this tirade. The difference between the pronouns we and I is not even worth discussing here. What Mr B repeatedly fails to understand is that he abjured the right to use the pronoun I when he became a married man. He became a part of a WE-for better or worse. Although it was I who thought up said project and planned it and put it on the calendar, I am kind enough to include him in the WE. You won't see me waving my arms in the air complaining about my admin or support staff roles, and we all know how exhausting those can be.
For example, while socializing with friends the harmless question arises. “So what have you guys been up to lately?” And I absently remark, “Oh we’ve been painting the bedroom….” or “We’ve been cleaning out the garage….” or “We’ve been landscaping…” You get the idea. All three sentences share the same pronoun: we. This is when the drama begins and mild mannered Mr Boyd morphs into the pronoun Nazi. “What do you mean WE painted the bedroom?” (…or cleaned out the garage or landscaped, etc.) “Don’t you mean I painted the bedroom?” (…or cleaned out the garage or landscaped, etc.) And the incensed Mr B loudly outlines in graphic detail (with arms gesticulating) all the back breaking labor he has endured over said project to the stunned silence of his audience. Mind you-he is completely sober during this tirade. The difference between the pronouns we and I is not even worth discussing here. What Mr B repeatedly fails to understand is that he abjured the right to use the pronoun I when he became a married man. He became a part of a WE-for better or worse. Although it was I who thought up said project and planned it and put it on the calendar, I am kind enough to include him in the WE. You won't see me waving my arms in the air complaining about my admin or support staff roles, and we all know how exhausting those can be.
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So today when Mr B finished painting the pantry (a lovely celery green, I might add), he called me into the kitchen and said, “So how did we do?” And I am happy to report, “We did great!”
So today when Mr B finished painting the pantry (a lovely celery green, I might add), he called me into the kitchen and said, “So how did we do?” And I am happy to report, “We did great!”
This use of "we" that you are discussing is one of my favorite parts of being married!
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