On a wintery Wednesday

[miss-daizy.livejournal.com]

From miss_daizy's “I didn't know there was a word for that” files.

illeism - (n)

The practice of referring to oneself as "he" or "she", or by one's name

n. illeist
Adj. illeistic

Etymology

Pretty straight forward. From the Latin ille, he, + -ism.
Its first citation is from 1809–10:

"For one piece of egotism … there are fifty that steal out in the mask of tuisms and ille-isms."
(Coleridge Friend (1818) I. 36 )

Usage:

If Elaine had known about Jimmy's tendency to illeism she would never have ended up going out with him.

Common culprits:

Elmo
Parents and toddlers
The Big Lebowski
Joe Biden
Bob Dole
Facebook users

Comments

[kashiichan.livejournal.com]

<3

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Add to the list: young Japanese women who are trying to act childishly cute.

---L.

[rainbow-yarn.livejournal.com]

AUGH my uncle does this all the time; it drives me CRAZY.

[bellumed.livejournal.com]

Ah, now I know what to call Third Person Asswipes!

[fidgetspin.livejournal.com]

[jesuslovesbono.livejournal.com]

Jesuslovesbono didn't know that Biden or Dole did that.

[isha-libran.livejournal.com]

Common Culprits

Heh, thanks for the smile. =)