student asking question

Does "himself" mean "yourself" here? Why does he say "himself"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

No, "himself" here is referring to PanPan. The speaker is saying that even without his help, PanPan will "mess up" PanPan just fine. The speaker is not referring to himself here. He has chosen to use "him" instead of "you" here despite PanPan being in front of him. This is to add a bit of humor to the situation. Sometimes in conversation, people will choose to use the third person instead of "you," even if the person being spoken about is present.

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