# When you talk to yourself in the mirror, how do you address yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073 "2010-05-28T15:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/41 "2010-05-29T06:42:41Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > You should have included the option “I don’t talk to myself in the mirror.” I don’t. Why would I include that as an option if I’m interested in how people who _do_ talk to themselves in front of the mirror address themselves? You know, and I’m too lazy to start another poll on it, I’d be interested in knowing among those who talk to themselves in front of the mirror, do they address themselves differently when simply speaking aloud? It’s usually first person when I’m sitting around and declare something aloud to myself. Just now, upon walking into the door, and realizing there’s nothing fun to do here, “Eh, I should go to bed.” Of course, I’ve now changed my mind and decided to putz around with my imaginary internet friends. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/42 "2010-05-29T06:48:53Z")
[This](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/little-girl-gives-herself-a-pep-talk/20ajmekq)\* is what I say when I talk to myself in the mirror. Just kidding. I wish I did, though. She sounds like she has some really great days! \*video of a little girl giving herself a pep talk ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/43 "2010-05-29T06:51:21Z")
Maybe I voted wrong. In the mirror, I guess it’s mostly first person. ‘Damn my hair looks awful today.’ ‘Oh good, my hair is finally settling down.’ ‘I should probably be actually paying attention to taijitsu instead of thinking about my hair’ That sort of thing. I talk to myself in a mix of second and first person. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/44 "2010-05-29T07:49:23Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Why would I include that as an option if I’m interested in how people who _do_ talk to themselves in front of the mirror address themselves? For the same reason that in polls about women there’s often an “I’m a male” response. It’s relevant and it would allow me to see the results without clicking elsewhere. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/45 "2010-05-29T08:07:30Z")
I’m always in second person, whether in the mirror or otherwise. I feel silly using it, and have tried to convert to first person. When I’m talking about losing things, I usually address the thing as if it were real. “Keys, where are you?” I have used third person plural though: I say “[You’re] looking good. Let’s go.” It just makes sense since I’ve just used second person like there’s someone else in the room. At least, it does in my twisted little head… ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/46 "2010-05-29T09:42:45Z")
I have not answered the poll because: I do not talk to myself in the mirror. I do not talk to myself in my thoughts. I don’t even talk aloud when I am alone. I guess I’m shy with myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/47 "2010-05-30T00:15:17Z")
I don’t talk to myself in the mirror. I thought it only happened in movies/television. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/48 "2010-05-30T04:06:07Z")
I don’t often talk to myself in the mirror, but if I do it’s a mix of 3rd Person singular or 3rd person plural depending on if I’m talking to me or talking about me and how the conversation is going (though I do just tend to address the person in the mirror as “You”, but usually it’s something like, “ToeJam, you… blah blah blah” or it might be “Jeez, Toejam, we really… blah blah blah.” But I don’t always put in my name there (though in the few times I do talk to myself in the mirror I’m more likely to use my name than not). So I guess I had to vote for the Weirdest of the Weird Option. I also have a constant internal narrator in my head (JD from Scrubs is one of the BEST examples I can think of as how it’s like in my head, sans all the fantasies- but that constant “dead diary” sorta thinking). I also do a few other things I probably do that’s weird, as I realized in college at apparently not everyone thinks (like literally thinks, not just about ideas and such) the way I do. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/49 "2010-05-30T04:27:26Z")
Both the first and last words out of my mouth must be sir. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/50 "2010-05-30T04:32:43Z")
Usually something like this: You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talking… you talking to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? Oh yeah? OK. Then I pull a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/51 "2010-05-30T04:58:21Z")
**sir yes sir!** ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/52 "2010-05-30T06:32:40Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I don’t talk to myself in the mirror. I thought it only happened in movies/television. No, sir. You see, normal people are crazy. > [@ToeJam](#): > > I don’t often talk to myself in the mirror, but if I do it’s a mix of 3rd Person singular or 3rd person plural depending on if I’m talking to me or talking about me and how the conversation is going (though I do just tend to address the person in the mirror as “You”, but usually it’s something like, “ToeJam, you… blah blah blah” or it might be “Jeez, Toejam, we really… blah blah blah.” But I don’t always put in my name there (though in the few times I do talk to myself in the mirror I’m more likely to use my name than not). > > So I guess I had to vote for the Weirdest of the Weird Option. You refer to yourself as “they”? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/53 "2010-05-30T17:35:16Z")
Good call, I got my 3rd person plural wrong. It should be first person plural and 3rd person singular. Good catch. It’s always we, and you’s mostly. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/54 "2010-05-30T20:49:24Z")
I don’t talk to myself in the mirror, but my internal dialog is first-person. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/55 "2010-05-31T02:56:20Z")
Oh man, I can’t be the only one who, no matter what the initial question or statement was, leans forward and somberly says: _we just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound **fine**?!_ Of course, I may also be the only one with a cat named [Ash](http://www.flickr.com/photos/24165035@N06/2486497948/), so there’s that. But tell me I’m not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/56 "2010-05-31T06:33:57Z")
I talk to myself a lot, but usually not in front of a mirror. I say “you” a lot, but usually I adress myself as “Dude”. As in, “Dude, what did you do?” I like the word “Dude”. It has a universal application, like the word “Y’all”. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/57 "2010-05-31T07:22:30Z")
I voted first person singular, but I really haven’t addressed _myself_ in the mirror much if ever. I’ve “talked to myself” out loud fairly extensively, but it’s pretty much always in the form of a dialog with an unseen third party audience, God, devil, or whatever, rather than truly to myself. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/58 "2010-05-31T07:32:28Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever talked to myself in the mirror. I’ve seen people do it in movies, but it’s never crossed my mind to do it myself. What for? ETA, I guess I do talk to myself sometimes, but not in the mirror. Usually I’m cussing myself about about something. I use second person – “way to go, you stupid fuck. You broke it.” Stuff like that. The mirror? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/59 "2010-05-31T07:53:59Z")
Any and every time I address myself in the mirror it ALWAYS starts with “_JEEEZUZ_!” as the opener, so I’m not sure what to make of that… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073/60 "2010-05-31T11:16:08Z")
I’m only in front of the mirror when grooming, so that would be when I’m talking to myself in front of it. I mainly talk out loud to myself as commentary on what’s going on. “Jesus, it’s hot,” “I don’t think I’m absent-minded, so much as my keys are sentient and are hiding from me,” and so on. But while in front of the mirror, it changes from first person to second, as if my reflection is not me. “Don’t bother flat ironing your hair today; it’s too humid.” Sometimes it’s first person plural, or a combination of that and second (“You look good. Let’s go”), but seldom first, which is how I typically talk to myself when _not_ in front of the mirror. I guess my OP and poll also should have asked if people refer to themselves differently in front of the mirror than they do at other times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-talk-to-yourself-in-the-mirror-how-do-you-address-yourself/541073.md?page=4)