Meaning & Analysis
A self-aware, often apologetic, preface used by a speaker who is about to praise themselves or something they are associated with, acknowledging that doing so is generally considered immodest.
Insights
Feigned Humility
The phrase functions as a performance of 'feigned humility,' where the speaker adopts a mask of reluctance to conceal an underlying desire to boast. It's a social strategy to make self-praise appear less arrogant.
Navigating Social Norms
It represents a tool for navigating social etiquette. The speaker consciously breaks the rule against self-praise but simultaneously acknowledges the rule, thereby softening the social transgression.
Ironic Self-Importance
The expression ironically underscores the speaker's pride. By drawing attention to the act of boasting, the feigned hesitation can make the subsequent praise seem even more significant and intentional.
Justifiable Pride
It can imply that the statement to follow is so true or necessary that it justifies a minor breach of social protocol. The speaker suggests the merit of their claim outweighs the immodesty of stating it.
Critique of Immodesty
This proverb reveals a deep-seated social anxiety about self-praise. The annotation, 'A Ridicule upon them that commend themselves,' confirms it serves as a satirical tool, exposing the speaker's attempt to appear modest while indulging in self-aggrandizement.
Psychology of Boasting
Psychologically, the phrase is a mechanism to mitigate the social penalty for boasting. By acknowledging the breach of etiquette, the speaker attempts to disarm criticism and make their pride more palatable to the listener, revealing a sophisticated understanding of social dynamics.
Rhetorical Strategy
The phrase is a classic example of apophasis, a rhetorical device where a speaker brings up a subject by denying it should be mentioned. This technique, used by writers like Shakespeare and Jonson, adds a layer of irony and often serves to characterize the speaker as subtly arrogant or comically un-self-aware.
Historical Humblebrag
This expression is an early form of the modern 'humblebrag.' It demonstrates that the tension between the desire for recognition and the social expectation of modesty has been a consistent feature of social interaction for centuries.
Rhetorical Devices
Apophasis
The core rhetorical device is apophasis (or paralipsis), where the speaker raises an issue by pretending to deny or ignore it, effectively emphasizing the very point they claim they shouldn't make.
Irony
A distinct situational irony is created by the speaker doing exactly what they claim they should not be doing. This contradiction between word and deed is central to the proverb's meaning and humorous effect.
Parenthetical Structure
The phrase acts as a parenthetical aside, a self-conscious interruption that frames the main statement. This creates a conversational tone and directly addresses the social context of the utterance.
Transcription
Quotations
Though I sait and shoulde not sait, I was her midwife, I.
Though I say it that should not, I haue bene a minstrell these thirtie yeeres.
I do vse as much stale stuffe, though I say it my selfe, as any man does in that kind I am sure.
I thinke there never Marriage was manag'd with a more avisement, Then was this mariage, though I say't, that should not.
Though you say it, that should not say it, and must say it, if it be said.
Shakespeare Citations
His father, though I say't, is an honest exceeding poor man, and, God be thanked, well to live.
Annotations
- A Ridicule upon them that commend themselves.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.