Addressing divinities

I have just realised that parents of small children often refer to themselves in the 3rd person, don’t they?

“Now come on darling [or “you little horror”], Mummy wants you to eat your breakfast nicely…” or whatever.

Sounds odd, from a distance, as it were, but I suspect we’ve all done it in that sort of situation. Must be something that “kicks in”. (Perhaps not in Cymraeg, though).

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:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

Excuse me while I go into the corner and fall down laughing.

As you observe, some divinities are tetchier than others, and I know for a fact that Sara Kali would demand chi lest she send some of her thugees after you in retribution for your boorish behavior. Or maybe that’s just for men, as she’s the patron of women in her (slightly) lighter aspects and would be much more chatty and informal. Yep, I think I can get away with ti

Sheesh, now I’ll never get this topic out of my head… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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It’s just as well SSiW isn’t a conventional evening class.
‘So, what did you learn in Welsh class this week?’
“Um…’ :rofl:

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“Oh, now look what you’ve done - you’ve made Daddy talk about himself in the third person again!”

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Actually you’re right! I can’t recall ever hearing anyone doing this in Cymraeg!

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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My son (about six at the time) said of a family friend ‘Why does she always talk like she’s being someone else?’ He meant this third person thing, that I clearly never got the hang of.
She still does it to them all now, and all three do a double take when she does it. :no_mouth:

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But Cymraeg is the laguage of Heaven!! :angel:

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In the otherwise-informal U.S., that’s definitely the way to let children of any age (including adult ones) know they’re about to get a dead serious lecture; and if you throw not only the middle name, but also the family name into the mix, s/he’ll know there’s BIG trouble coming.

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OK you win! So that means that learning Cymraeg is the direct route there…??:smiley::wink:

Reminds me of the time Nigel Owens addressed Chris Robshaw as Christopher when he appeared unhappy with the referee’s decision. End of discussion!

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Do you think divinities would be receptive to being told by Gareth how they should address people?

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It is in many European languages. :slight_smile:

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I’ve got to admit some are much more receptive to it than others… :confused:

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“Will Sir be requiring the wine list?”

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That’s what I like about Julius Caesar as well - a man who in his autobiographical campaign accounts refers to himself throughout as ‘Caesar’:

Caesar advanced on the enemy positions
An envoy from the Liguri presented himself before Caesar
After breakfast Caesar did the crossword

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There are some jokes about that in some early Asterix comics, along the lines of:
Roman: He’s really great.
Caesar, suspiciously: Who is?
Roman: You are, O Caesar.
Caesar: Oh, him!

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I saw a programme recently where Mary Beard reckoned Caesar wrote in the third person so it made sense when read out in public in Rome

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I confess I was thinking of this when I laid down my third person decree! @robbruce

As with practically all comedy, the radio sketch was funnier. :slight_smile: