These days, thanks to streamers, some of the young'uns have started using "chat" as a fourth person plural pronoun.
Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
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Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#72In my native Texan English, "y'all" can certainly act as a singular polite "you" (EDIT: though it is not terribly common). I often use "Howdy, how y'all doin?" as a polite greeting to people I don't know regardless of the number of people I am addressing, though switch to just "you" after making acquaintance. Funny enough, "howdy" is a contraction of the older "how do ye" and some people still consider it both a gree…
Interesting on the “y’all”. I’m a Texan and have never addressed a singular person as y’all. If I do address a person as y’all as in “How are y’all doing?”, it’s assumed I’m speaking of the family unit that person belongs to rather than the individual.
While we Texans might find it polite or friendly, in the corporate world I’ve been told to avoid using it in emails.
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#73In my native Texan English, "y'all" can certainly act as a singular polite "you" (EDIT: though it is not terribly common). I often use "Howdy, how y'all doin?" as a polite greeting to people I don't know regardless of the number of people I am addressing, though switch to just "you" after making acquaintance. Funny enough, "howdy" is a contraction of the older "how do ye" and some people still consider it both a gree…
Wait, wat? I always thought that "y'all" was a contraction of "you all", so meant the "plural you" instead of the "singular you".
I think you have to say “all y’all” for the plural.
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#74There is a scene in The Lord of the Rings (Book) where Éowyn switches to using "thou" and "thee" when begging Aragorn to take her with him when he takes the Paths of the Dead. If you don't know (as I didn't for a long time) that she has switched to intimate/informal language then the scene has less impact. Especially since Aragorn keeps things formal in his reply. http://coco.raceme.org/literature/lordoftherings/retu…
Also see, the sun also rises because hemmingway transliterated a ton of Spanish, including thees, thous, some colloquialisms
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#75In my native Texan English, "y'all" can certainly act as a singular polite "you" (EDIT: though it is not terribly common). I often use "Howdy, how y'all doin?" as a polite greeting to people I don't know regardless of the number of people I am addressing, though switch to just "you" after making acquaintance. Funny enough, "howdy" is a contraction of the older "how do ye" and some people still consider it both a gree…
Wait, wat? I always thought that "y'all" was a contraction of "you all", so meant the "plural you" instead of the "singular you".
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Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#76I'm from a country where there is a different version and I hate it because it makes me overthink every time about which one is appropriate to use now with people I don't know. Maybe I should completely ditch it, and use the informal one with everyone new, just with the hopes of building immediate rapport. I must not be the only one to hate it, and surely those people who would mind me using the informal one are not…
If negotiating the tu/vous distinction takes major mental effort, are you on the spectrum? Difficulty with understanding social cues and (these distinctions are also about creating distance) other people’s space is a typical trait of autism. These linguistic innovations wouldn't spread – and often quickly, within a couple of generations – if the neurotypical masses found them burdensome.
I'm in a country with this distinction, too, and I don't like strangers addressing me with the informal just like that. Every sociolinguistic setting is different, but using just the informal might not automatically create rapport but the opposite. Saying people like myself aren't worth your time sounds like sour grapes, and it might rob you of some opportunities.
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#77More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou This should be common knowledge for native English speakers. It's hard to read Shakespeare without knowing this. But for non-native speaker, this would be mysterious.
"In the 17th century, thou fell into disuse in the standard language"
Why would that need to be common knowledge 3-400 years later then?
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#78More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou This should be common knowledge for native English speakers. It's hard to read Shakespeare without knowing this. But for non-native speaker, this would be mysterious.
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Not everything is about the only thing that’s been on _your_ mind lately. Other stuff exists, and it doesn’t all have to fit a single narrative.
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, wat? I always thought that "y'all" was a contraction of "you all", so meant the "plural you" instead of the "singular you".
I think you have to say “all y’all” for the plural.
This Texan's understanding:
"Y'all" = plural you
"All y'all" = "all of [plural] you" as distinct from "some of you/y'all"
Don't think I've ever heard a singular y'all. "How ya doin'" would be the singular version of "How y'all doin"
Re: Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
#80Afterthought: the post below illustrates the paucity of modern English in that nowadays in modern English no distinction is made between the second and third person 'you' whereas in other languages such as German it still is. __ I've mentioned on HN previously when discussing languages that when my father was learning German his old textbook had the English thee, thou, and thine/thy as the second person for the Germa…
I've heard that “Sie Asshole” is the proper way to insult someone while staying polite.
"Sie Arschloch" is funny in that it highlights that one:
1. has enough manners to not call people you don't know "du" (and you are not letting emotionality override those manners)
2. yet you know that person well enough to judge their behaviour and call them out as an asshole
It is a bit like punching someone with velvet gloves.