Talking in the Third Person (minicast)

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It’s another minicast from A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette.

It’s summertime, and my co-host Grant Barrett and I are implementing our personal stimulus recovery plans. That is to say, we’re on vacation.

But we wanted to tide you over until our regular recording season starts in the fall.

So we’ve stocked the online pantry full of little snacks, little tasty bite-sized calls that we haven’t aired yet.

Here, try one. It’s from Jamie in Pittsburgh.

My question is about people speaking in the third person. I’d like to know what it comes from and why people still do it these days and why it’s even called third person.

Tell me how you’re hearing it.

Well, I occasionally hear it, usually with celebrities on TV, most notably lately. Roland Burris, the senator from Illinois, occasionally will speak in third person.

And to me, I kind of find it a bit irritating. So I was wondering where it comes from and why it’s even still used today.

So he’s talking about himself, then?

He’ll use his own name when he talks about himself? Is that what you’re saying?

Yes, yes. Instead of saying I or me, he will say his own name. Roland Burris would never do that or something like that.

Yes, yeah, exactly.

Yeah, Martha Barnette finds this very irritating as well. Martha Barnette does not like this at all.

And, Jamie, you find it irritating as well?

Yes, it almost sounds a bit pompous to me.

Yes. If they’re elevating themselves past the rest of us by, you know, it almost sounds as if maybe it came from royalty or something.

So to hear someone use it these days sounds a little bit outdated and annoying.

I would agree with you, or else they’re trying to sound like Elmo.

Yeah. Or Bob Dole. You know, he was kind of notorious for that, former Senator Bob Dole.

Oh, yeah, that was another politician.

Maybe it’s just mostly politicians these days, but I feel like celebrities have done it occasionally as well.

If it’s any comfort, there is a word for this. It’s illism.

Illism.

Yeah, I-L-L-E-I-S-M.

And it’s not because it makes you ill, although it does make Martha Barnette ill to hear this.

But it’s from a Latin word that means that man, that person, and illism. It’s talking about yourself in the third person.

Grant, I’m not really sure why people do this. It seems like a few people have this tick, like Bob Dole, for example.

And I would agree that it’s distancing, and sometimes it sounds condescending.

I loved it when Bob Dole talked about how Clinton, Bill Clinton, when he was elected in 1992,

Wasn’t going to have a legislative honeymoon because Bob Dole is going to be his chaperone.

That didn’t work out too well.

Don’t you two find it significant that it seems only to be done by people in positions of power or fame or notoriety?

Yes.

Yeah, that’s a good question.

I’ve never run into somebody down at the deli who said, you know, Jose will now make you a sandwich.

Or I’ve never, you know, at the DMV, Carol is now going to process your license.

They just never do something like that.

Yeah, Jamie, do you have any friends who do that?

Or is it all people in public life?

You know, I can only really hear it on the radio or, you know, on television when, you know, like you said, people have, you know, somewhat some like elevated status of politician or celebrity.

And I’ve never really heard it through, you know, normal people, I guess.

Well, this leads me to one of the theories that I’ve seen thrown around about this.

And this is not a professional theory as far as I know, but it seems to be accurate to me.

And it’s that when you are a famous person or you’re somebody who’s known for something, you develop kind of a way that you behave in public and there’s a way you behave in private.

And you begin to think of yourself kind of as a performer.

You are performing the role of Bob Dole or you’re performing the role of Roland Burris, whoever you happen to be.

And so there’s this public character who has a certain kind of action and activity and face and the whole thing.

And then there’s the private character, you know, who behaves a different way around family, maybe may speak differently, dress differently, do different things.

The public person has to perform.

It’s always being on.

That switch is on.

The green light is lit.

The cameras are rolling.

They’re performing.

It’s just not – it’s not even really natural maybe.

That’s an interesting point.

And you asked too about third person.

That’s a grammatical term.

You know, first person is I, second person is you, and third person is he, she, or it.

Or third person plural is they.

So that’s what that third person is all about.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

Yeah, that makes plenty of sense.

Super duper.

Thanks for calling.

Yeah, Martha and Grant are delighted that you called.

Okay.

Thank you very much for having me.

All right.

Bye-bye, Jamie.

Bye.

Does illyism make you ill?

Or do you know any other good examples of famous folks who talk this way?

We’d love to hear about it.

Write to us at words@waywordradio.org.

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Thanks for listening.

For A Way with Words, I’m Martha Barnette.