Why do people talk in the third person?

Or just never use any kind of personal pronouns? Example.... Why do people do this? Is it just to drive people nuts? To confuse the hell out of them? (Not a IJBM I just want to know the reason behind it.)

edited 18th Apr '11 2:03:38 AM by Raso

Aondeug does this on occasion because she finds it amusing. She does not use it very often on the fora, but she uses it often enough while speaking in person.

They do it because it annoys people, basically.

I do it on occasion IRL, but only when it amuses me.

I think we need a hanar in here to explain things. Though I'm not sure if "this one" counts as a first-person pronoun.

This one is doing it out of habit. The habit in question serves no purpose now, but is amusing enough to keep.

Also, this one does not do it in every post. She is not about to sacrifice readability for the sake of her Verbal Tic. And this one almost never uses it in private and/or personal conversation. This type of speech is a sign of her forum persona, so to speak.

If that manner of speech annoys anyone, please say so, an I will not use third person in conversations with you (although I reserve the right to use it in posts directed to other people).

Tony Muhpllaah likes the sound of his name, but he is only speaking in 3rd person in this topic because it was Tempting Fate.

Because "Remember, kids: Don't Mess With Da Heathen" looks less threatening and more clearly Played for Laughs than "Don't Mess With Me?"

I don't recall ever doing it in any other situation: It's pretty much a Shout-Out to the memetic "Don't F*** With Aria" line.

Also, This.

edited 18th Apr '11 10:06:28 AM by SavageHeathen

Whenever people refer to me in the third person, I tend to answer them in the third person. So if Person A says to Person B, in front of me, 'is Rachel coming?' I'd say 'yes, she is'. It's just a habit.

The *MIGHTY* Anonym likes speaking in the third person, because he enjoys it greatly. But we digress.

Rottweiler has spoken in the third person ever since his attempt to contact his mother's spirit in the afterlife was catastrophically confounded by the accursed Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiichaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards!

More seriously, we I occasionally use "one", though usually it isn't in the third person. It's a really convenient gender neutral catch-all term for referring to whomever the sentence implies.

Or would one disagree?

That's pretty much the way this one uses "one" most of the time. "They" is also acceptable as a gender-neutral form. "It", however, tends to be considered more than a little disrespectful when applied to human, so this one reserves it for the truly unknown. When the goal is not as much to cover all genders as indicate that there is no way to tell.

I think saying "this one" or some other variation is much less distracting because I can just mentally find-change those phrases and easily read your posts. Referring to yourself by your own name though, as in one of the early examples given in this thread, is rather more frustrating because I might initially assume that you're referring to someone else, and I have to check your name and stuff. Very annoying. In real life, where it's impossible to see peoples' names hovering over their heads, it would even more annoying.

edited 18th Apr '11 12:42:38 PM by Clarste

Heh, and this one would find it easier to speak to people if they've referred to themselves by names in real life. I tend to be confused about exactly who the speaker is. Often. Not to mention that it seems to be considered rude to ask people for their names after you are already introduced to each other, and I have very bad memory for names

It can have unfortunate results in how you're perceived. Prince Charles' habit of referring to himself as "one" was endlessly mocked by impressionists. Another example would be the ego-crazed celeb who almost treats his/her public persona as something independent of themselves - "Charlie Farnsbarns doesn't do small movies!" and so on. Ultimately though, it's Rule of Cool - if you can make it sound cool, do it. I think Beholderess carries it off pretty well.

Not being familiar with the one in the OP, it looks like they're trying to invoke Moe or something.

Beholderess's thing is the exact opposite — the fictional culture she's invoking is known for downplaying the self for the sake of humility. Given the usual sort around the Internet, I personally find that kind of refreshing

Disco Stu does not advertise!

edited 18th Apr '11 12:26:39 PM by Pykrete

Oh, I never use anyone's name anyway. I don't think of people by their names, most of the time.

edited 18th Apr '11 12:42:09 PM by Clarste

I was wondering this myself and found the following it is called Illeism And the reasons listed that explain why people do it would be enough for me to quit if I were in the habit.

Some BDS Mers of the sub variety denote themselves this way as a sort of depersonalisation. It seems to turn them on.

@Pykrete

Actually, this one started using this avatar only after people on this forum referred to her as hanar numerous times. Also, this one is quite egoistical, although she tries to be humble. Not egoistical in the sense of self-aggrandizing, but in considering individuality and "self" to be of utmost importance.

However, this one tries her best to avoid being influenced by GIFT

edited 18th Apr '11 7:41:02 PM by Beholderess

Chihuahua0 thinks that this is not going to end well.

It sounds good. The Chihuahua thinks that he should use third-person more often.

Because they are egotistical Völvar talking about how awesome they are while at the same time narrating the creation to gods.

</Völuspá>

edited 18th Apr '11 8:14:36 PM by annebeeche

Third person? We are not amused.

-looks up Hanar-

Oh hey, that is fitting.