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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
“We are not impressed.”
Have you ever
wondered where that expression came from? I can’t remember the first time I heard
it, but it seems like a long-running joke that members of the British Royal
family are said to use a plural pronoun to express displeasure. I don’t know if
that is true and they really speak that way, but I highly doubt it. However,
since watching the television series Victoria on
PBS, I have a suspicion how that tradition may have started and been
misunderstood/misinterpreted, as well as why it has lasted so long.
Early in Queen
Victoria’s reign as queen of England, her dog, Dash, was a constant companion
and apparent confidant of the young monarch. At least in this series, the queen
is occasionally shown depicted addressing her dog and even including his
unspoken opinion about an issue during a discussion with an advisor. I have no
way of knowing if this scenario actually happened, but it made me wonder if these
kinds of incidents inspired the royal “we.” Except in this case, rather than
simply being a vernacular affectation, the queen genuinely and legitimately
meant we. Nonetheless, as generations
passed and the little dog likely long forgotten, the expression has lived on—at
least in the public’s imagination. It is familiar and comfortable because it
has been around so long. It is known.
Consider a
tradition you or your family follows. Do you know why the holiday meal must
always be prepared in a certain way, using specific ingredients that are not
actually included in the original recipe? Upon further investigation, it turned
out that some of the original ingredients were unavailable during World War II,
so the family improvised the original recipe. The dish turned out well and the substituted
ingredients continued to be included in future preparations. Some people call
their grandmother as “Nan” or “Gram,” and their grandfather “Paw-Paw” because that
is how they were instructed to address their grandparents. Why? My guess is
that way back in the family tree a youngster couldn’t pronounce Grandma or
Grandpa and the new monikers stuck and eventually became a new subconscious
known.
How interesting…
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2017
