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"we."

"we." image
Parent Issue
Day
22
Month
December
Year
1893
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Beautiful reader, in glancing over a newspaper editorial, did you ever notice the absence of the pronoun "I" and the substituting for it of "we"? Possibly you have not made a study of the ommipotent "we," as we have. Yóu probably have uot thought enough about it to offer any reasonable excuse for its use. Doubtless it has never worried you and you have always considered it a trivial matter. It is not, however. Whenever you step into the editorial room of a newspaper, you will find "we" there with its coat off and getting in its work. "We" is the editors Frankenstein monster. That gentleman's hypogrif, however, sometimes absented itself, something that "we" never does. In all there are three reasons for itsgeneral use: Reason the onct. An editor speaks not only for himself, but for many, necessitating the use of the plural. Reason the twict. An editor usu3 ally amounts to three or four anyi way. Reason the three times. "We" is used so that when an editor says anything unkind of a man, as calling him a horse thief, etc., that man will understatid that if he wants to see a retraction of the statement in cold type, he will have to lick the whole staff, including the devil and the tramp printer, not the editor alone. In the first article a young man ever writes for the great American press or any other press, he always says "we." I once knew a newspaper man who had become so accustomed to say we that one night on entering a store devoted to the , introduction and sale of beverages he said, "we will have a drink." Every one in the emporium at the time rose as one man and moved up to the counter, and the young nahst was embarassed nght much. He had money enough to buy a drink for "I," but not for "we." Since that eventful night he has never used the latter pronoun. Young man, if you are addicted to the "we" habit, cast it off. The wailing and gnashingof teeth caused by its non-use is not to be compared to that caused by the over indulgence in it. Think of the horror, whenever you sit down at your desk to see the grinning terrible face of "we" peering over your shoulder and casting its shadow on the virgin copy paper before you. Rise up, young man, while you yet have strength and make the monster drop, and drop so hard that the fall therof will be like unto that of a sixtv dav note when it falleth due.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News