I've often heard the phrase what do we have here to mean what do you have. And also, recently, I've heard a teacher ask one of his students struggling with an assignment: do we have a problem?, as in do you have a problem?
I simply want to know how exactly such a rearrangement of pronoun usage became a thing and maybe if other languages do something similar. Thanks.
Best Answer
This is often called the "patronizing we", among other names (see this answer of mine for more details on its names). According to the Oxford English Dictionary's page for "we" (pron., n., and adj.), it first appeared in 1702:
In comparison, the "royal we" is much older, dating back to Old English.
According to one paper about healthcare (which calls it "inclusive we"), this form can "create a sense of shared connection and shared responsibility", so that's why I assume it came into being. Further into the paper it says however that "the impression may just as likely be paternalistic and condescending", which is probably why it's also called the "patronizing we".