Definition:
The act of referring to oneself (often habitually) in the third person. Someone who practices illeism is (among other things) an illeist. Adjective: illeistic.
Etymology:
From the Latin, "that man"Examples and Observations:
- "I do mind, the Dude minds. This will not stand, you know. This aggression will not stand, man."
(Jeff Bridges as the Dude in The Big Lebowski, 1998) - "You don't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
(Richard M. Nixon, November 7, 1962) - "Women are an enigma as far as Grimes is concerned."
(Captain Grimes in Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh, 1928) - "No, madman! Whatever you may see there--it is not fear! Fear is for lesser men. Never for Doom!"
(Doctor Victor Von Doom, Super Villain Team-Up #12) - "Jimmy's gonna get you, Kramer! Hands off Jimmy! Don't touch Jimmy!"
(Jimmy, "The Jimmy," Seinfeld, 1995) - "I am very proud to be from Russell, Kansas, population 5,500. My dad went to work every day for 42 years and proud of it, and my mother sold Singer sewing machines to try to make ends meet. Six of us grew up living in a basement apartment. That was Bob Dole's early life, and I'm proud of it."
(Senator Bob Dole, March 14, 1996) - Norm MacDonald: Aw, come on now, Senator, it's a great impression. Listen to this: "Come November 5th, a lot of people are going to be surprised by Bob Dole, because Bob Dole's gonna win this election!"
Bob Dole: Doesn't sound a thing like me. First of all, I don't run around saying "Bob Dole does this" and "Bob Dole does that." That's not something Bob Dole does. It's not something Bob Dole has ever done, and it's not something Bob Dole will ever do!"
(Saturday Night Live, Nov. 16, 1996) - "I'd like to thank all the people who made this show possible. Thank you, Stephen Colbert."
(Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, January 6, 2009)
Pronunciation: ILL-ee-izm
