{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "People who only speak english will never understand the struggle of not knowing if you have to call someone the \u2018formal you\u2019 or...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/149358334878/", "html": "

bloodandhedonism:

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proxypunch:

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bloodandhedonism:

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polyglot-oneday:

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mygayisshowing:

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the-undefeated-gaul:

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mygayisshowing:

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People who only speak english will never understand the struggle of not knowing if you have to call someone the \u2018formal you\u2019 or the \u2018informal you\u2019

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considering a majority of native english speakers don\u2019t even know the difference between\u00a0\u2018your\u2019 and\u00a0\u2018you\u2019re,\u2019 it\u2019s probably for the best that the language isn\u2019t made any more complicated than it is

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Lmfao the shade

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\ud83d\udc85\ud83c\udffc

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\u201cThou\u201d used to be equivalent to the informal\u00a0\u201cyou\u201d as per the Spanish example\u2013 actually this very distinction came about thanks to the elite dominance of the related Norman language following William the Conqueror, uh, conquering England \u2013 but it was eventually regarded as too impolite to use in general and the more regarded-as-polite\u00a0\u201cyou\u201d replaced it for everything.

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So really, English as a language was rather ahead in social advancement compared to many other languages, and it\u2019s worth noting this\u00a0in light of throwing off literal linguistic oppression as is supposedly the trend these days.

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NERD

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Just kidding :P

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But in all honesty I hate the \u201cformal\u201d and \u201cinformal\u201d versions of you/them. Especially if they\u2019re family but you don\u2019t know them and you want to make a good impression! Although this is just from my experience :/

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Hey, that\u2019s an easy excuse for formal, although you\u2019re talking to someone naturally prissy about these things.\u00a0

It could be worse. IIRC Japanese has a verb tense exclusively for speaking to the Emperor of Japan. (@kontextmaschine\u00a0isn\u2019t that true?)

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I think so, but it’s not something they taught us. I remember that words could be marked on distinct formal-informal, superior-inferior AND ingroup-outgroup axes though

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