wegotism
(ˈwiːgətɪz(ə)m)
[A jocular formation on we and egotism.]
An obtrusive and too frequent use of the first person plural by a speaker or writer.
| 1797 Brit. Critic IX. 424 A more trifling matter of objection is the use of the plural form [we] throughout in speaking of himself... In an individual preacher..it seems a strange desertion of propriety: and if used to avoid egotism, leads to that which..if we did not too much respect etymology, we might jocularly style Wegotism. 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. I. Introd., We may have blended wegotism and egotism; but Cæsar writes ‘dixeram’ and ‘scripsimus’. 1881 H. J. Jennings Curios. Crit. 156 What has been called the ‘wegotism’ of the press. |