The Phrase “We’re Pregnant” Bothers Me
We’ve all heard it before, someone saying “we’re pregnant” when talking about their impending baby. Not ‘we’re expecting’ or ‘we’re having a baby’ but ‘we’re pregnant’. The closest I’ve come to being pregnant is after a big meal at Papa Gino’s. So I have zero knowledge or expertise on the matter. But what I’m about to say next is something pretty significant. I’m taking a… pregnant pause to signify it’s importance. (Alright I’ll see my way out.) But having an unfounded opinion is what makes America, America. Plus, in my research I see that my girl Mila Kunis was on our side all the way back in 2014. So we’re just carrying the torch for Mila.
The phrase has always been confusing to me, the ‘we’re’ part make it sounds like both the man and women are carry a baby or at the very least have an equal role. I get why people do it, it makes it a team sport, everyone is in it together. It makes the man feel like he’s part of team, like he is helping out for the 9 months. And in many ways I appreciate it. Trust me I’ve been on a lot of sports teams where I have contributed very little. The best player saying ‘we won’ does make me feel good.
(This is my typical stat line and what a man contributes during a pregnancy.)
But ultimately, it bothers me that we’re giving someone credit for not really doing anything. It’s the school ‘group assignment’ all over again. We all remember that one kid that did absolutely nothing but still gets credit. (Well, of course I know him. He’s me.) But that is what a pregnancy is like. So I empathize with the pregnant woman doing all the work but having to say ‘we’ like everything is equal. Plus, it’s just really confusing, I always think it’s multiple pregnant people they’re talking about, “we’re pregnant” “oh, you and your sister are both pregnant?”. But that may have to do more with my tenuous grasp on the English language.
Don’t like the analogies so far? I’ll throw a few more out there and see what sticks:
“We Made Dinner”
-> You hear this a lot too, ‘we made dinner at home’, when in reality it was just one person doing the bulk of the cooking. The guy may have helped “pick up the groceries” so to speak, but really the women is the one that is actually preparing that, ‘bun in the oven’. You didn’t make dinner, simply helped with the initial stages. I also often need a thorough ‘grocery list’ to get the job done, but I digress.
The Big Salad
-> I think this is the best analogy, I’m 100% on George’s side when it comes to the big salad. If you’re doing the work, or buying the salad, you earned the praise/thank you, not the person that just handed them the big salad! A guy saying ‘we’re pregnant’ is the same as Julie handing Elaine the big salad and taking credit for doing the bare minimum.
“We’re Going Streaking”
-> A classic from Old School. In this instance the “we’re” is used much like in a pregnancy. Frank represents the pregnant women, out there by himself, vulnerable, tired, run down, probably a bit bloated (one from the pregnancy the other from the beer). I was always upset that his buddies didn’t follow him out there. What I’m trying to say is a streaking Frank = pregnant women and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
P.S. Some might say ‘how about a fan of a sports team saying ‘we’ as if they played on that team.’ Nah, as someone that loyally follows a few different sports teams, this one doesn’t work. I put a lot of time, effort, and money into supporting that team and even when those players are gone, I’ll still be their supporting that team. So I’m entitled to say ‘we’! Why am I raising my voice?
