# "You", in the first person. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211 "2002-11-11T01:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/1 "2002-11-11T01:32:16Z")
Did I say that right? It’s been a long time since my grammer classes in school. My question; We often use the pronoun “you” to refer to ourselves, but is it really proper? I’ll try to give an example. Interviewer: “Aren’t you ever afraid while climbing that sheer rock face without safety equipment”? Interviewee (;)) : “No, you don’t think about it. You just feel excitement. All you really think about is what you’re doing”. Something like that. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/2 "2002-11-11T01:37:18Z")
Obviously also a long time since your spelling class. The interviewee in your example was not referring to himself, but to that class of rock climbers described, of which he is one. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/3 "2002-11-11T01:38:48Z")
It’s not the first-person. It’s the third-person indefinite. (I’m not sure that’s the right term.) It replaces “one”. (“No, one doesn’t think about it. One just feels excitement. All one really thinks about is what one’s doing”.) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/4 "2002-11-11T01:48:27Z")
Spell what, **barbitu8**? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/5 "2002-11-11T01:52:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Spell what, **barbitu8**? \*\* Grammar. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/6 "2002-11-11T02:18:42Z")
I think what **mangeorge** is referring to is those instances in conversation where someone uses _you_ rather than _I_ in an attempt to distance themselves from the feeling or sentiment expressed. It’s really quite common and I’m sure most people could catch themselves doing it occassionally. “I’m sorry to hear about your divorce.” “Thanks, you take a while to get over it.” You take is a less personal substitute for “I took” or “I am taking” ---
**Author:** ![Devil\_s\_Advocate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Devil\_s\_Advocate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Devil_s_Advocate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/7 "2002-11-11T02:43:56Z")
Yeah, when I took Psychology in high school, the book covered this phenomenon. The speaker generalizes a statement to everyone, even though it’s really about him/herself, thus failing to “own” his or her feelings about something. Since reading that section, I see how silly this sounds, and try to avoid that particular habit. If you listen, you may find that people do this surprisingly often. Yeah, technically “you” is used for the third person indefinite, but in these cases you’re really saying something about yourself, not people in general (as in this sentence). You’re just not admitting it. It’s not the grammar that’s incorrect, it’s the idea it communicates that’s not quite right (although I suppose the use of “you” instead of “one” is officially improper, too). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/8 "2002-11-11T03:00:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*Grammar. \*\* No, No. I was talking about my _grandmother_. She was a stickler for proper grammar. Really! 🙂 Ok. Thanks, **barbitu8**. And… What **don’t ask** said. You often hear celebs do it in interviews. Like when Johnny Carson look’s right at Madonna and ask’s “What does a Modonna do when she’s not working”? And she reply’s “Well, you teach your children, you go to church. You know. stuff like that”. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/9 "2002-11-11T03:07:25Z")
In journalism, “we” is used as the editorial “I.” It is not considered proper to use “I,” as sounding too egocentric. So “we” is substituted for “I.” ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/10 "2002-11-11T06:38:45Z")
Merriam-Webster notes the usage, but doesn’t flag it as colloquial. > [@](#): > > Main Entry: you > Function: pronoun > […] > 2 : ONE 2a Then looking under “One”, pronoun, sense “2a”, one (!) finds > [@](#): > > 2 a : an individual of a vaguely indicated group : anyone at all \ In other words, “you” can be used like “One” as an indefinite pronoun. No great surprise, except that for M-W it seems to be an acceptable usage. I suspect that this has come about because for some reason, “one” as an indefinite pronoun sounds rather stilted nowadays. Interestingly (or not), in French _On_ (“One”), which is used way more than “one” in English, colloquially serves for _nous_ (“we”). I’m betting this is because the verb forms for the 3rd person singular are shorter and easier than for first person plural. e.g. _nous y allons demain_ (we’re going there tomorrow) _on y va demain_ (same thing but with “one”) However, if you want to have “one” (people in general) as the object of the verb rather than (or as well as) the subject, you have to resort to 2nd person, like we do in English: _A la douane, on vous controle votre passe-port._ (at customs, they check your passport) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/11 "2002-11-11T07:32:23Z")
A clarification. The French indefinite pronoun _on_ is often translated as “one,” but it doesn’t literally mean the number one (which is _un/une_ in French). _On_ derives from Latin _homo_ (“man, person”) which also gives rise to the French noun _homme_ . ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/12 "2002-11-11T16:03:05Z")
"Yeah, when I took Psychology in high school, the book covered this phenomenon. The speaker generalizes a statement to everyone, even though it’s really about him/herself, thus failing to “own” his or her feelings about something. " Just out of curiosity, do psychologists have any evidence whatsoever for claims like that or is just educated instinct/guess. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-in-the-first-person/136211/13 "2002-11-12T01:30:57Z")
I get it, I think. So it could be the same reasoning that prompt’s a interviewer to ask questions about “A Barry Bonds” when talking to the man himself. Sound’s kinda odd to me, but then IANAJ. Peace, mangeorge