Humble language for other people as an insult


In fiction, I've occasionally seen humble language used for other people - it
seems to be an insult, and is most common as a command (申せ！). Is my perception
correct, and is the insult sense restricted to verbs that don't follow the
お（連用形）する・いたす form? (I assume, of course, that this is more common in the past
and fiction than present real Japanese.)




謙譲語 was used like this when the speaker was clearly much higher than the
listener (... well, at least in fiction). For example, a governor would say to
their people,「こちらに参れ」, 「早く申せ」, 「～と存ぜよ」, 「そのように致せ」, or 「ありがたく賜れ」.

These are (sometimes) called
[尊大語](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/132073/m0u/) (arrogant
expression?), and insult is usually _not_ intended. I think these were natural
wordings between two people with different social status in those days.

Of course, these are almost never used today (except when a joke is intended).




謙譲語 was used like this when the speaker was clearly much higher than the
listener (... well, at least in fiction). For example, a governor would say to
their people,「こちらに参れ」, 「早く申せ」, 「～と存ぜよ」, 「そのように致せ」, or 「ありがたく賜れ」.

These are (sometimes) called
[尊大語](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/132073/m0u/) (arrogant
expression?), and insult is usually _not_ intended. I think these were natural
wordings between two people with different social status in those days.

Of course, these are almost never used today (except when a joke is intended).

