Meaning:
`We have become a grandmother' was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's
statement to the press in 1989, on the birth of her first grandchild, Mark
Thatcher's son Michael.
Background:
The use of the `royal we' (the `pluralis majestatis' or `majestic plural')
had previously been restricted, as one might expect, to royalty; for example,
Queen Victoria's celebrated `we are not amused`. Its use by a mere prime
minister and Thatcher's imperious personal manner were the source of
considerable disdain at the time. Thatcher's apparent conceit led to her
being described as `a legend in her own imagination' and to some linguistic
jokes at her expense:
- Why is Margaret Thatcher like a pound coin?
- Because she is thick, brassy and thinks she's a sovereign.
Another quip came in the explanation from an aide as to why she had the
nickname of `Daggers' Thatcher. An interviewer asked, `Is that because she
has a reputation for stabbing colleagues in the back?' `No, its because she's
three stops past Barking.' [Dagenham is three stops past Barking on the
London Underground]
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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`Barking' here should be the British way of saying `completely mad.'
Chinese monarchs called themselves 朕, 寡人, or 哀家. Everyone else was a
NuCai and, if addressing themselves using a royal epithet, a pretender to the
throne. Thatcher should be thankful she didn't work under such sovereigns: she
wouldn't be able to get away with just a few jibes.
