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I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to
themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition
of これ.

Now, this obviously isn't used as frequently as 私, 僕, etc., so it makes me
wonder: When can it be used to refer to one's self? and Does it have any extra
or particular meaning as such?

Thanks! :)
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word-choice usage vocabulary first-person-pronouns pronouns
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I think that would be おれ 「俺」, and actually most frequently used first person
pronoun for males in Japan currently when speaking.

The one you found in dictionary might be from まくらそうし「枕草子」 at Middle Heian-Era
(around 1000 Years ago) but I don't think that one is in used recently.

or [これ](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27360/m0u/%E3%81%93%E3%82%8C/) or
[こら](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27288/m0u/%E3%81%93%E3%82%89/) has
another meaning like "Hey"

> これ,静かにしろ Hey, be quiet!

Note: これ has some sense like "Listen", "I say", but こら is stronger on
expression about angriness, scolding.

ref:

  * [http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27360/m0u/これ/](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27360/m0u/%E3%81%93%E3%82%8C/)
  * [http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27288/m0u/こら/](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/27288/m0u/%E3%81%93%E3%82%89/)
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To add a little bit more to what YOU said in his answer: in some Classical
Japanese texts これ was indeed used as a first (and also second) person pronoun.
It's not the most common first person pronoun in Classical Japanese (that
would probably be われ), but it's a possible use, so maybe that's where your
dictionary got that from.

The quote from 枕草子 (The Pillow Book) YOU referred to is probably the one which
shows up in Daijirin:

> 殿上人なども「なほこれ一人は」などのたまふを

Don't ask me to translate that though. :)
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You can use こちら (the humble form of ここ) to refer to yourself (and your in-
group). It's not exactly これ but it's close. I would say this is most often
heard in the phrase こちらこそ, used after someone thanks you to say something
along the lines of, "The pleasure was all mine." See [definition
#3](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E3%81%93%E3%81%A1%E3%82%89&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=3),
given as synonymous with 自分（たち）. I tend to use it in situations that are
somewhere between casual and formal, like talking with a 先生 or someone older I
don't know very well.
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