[Lexicog] Re: The irony of thou

[Fritz Goerling]

Rudy,

 

The ritual in German is that the older one in a relationship initiates
informality by offering "Du kannst Du zu mir sagen." (You can say "you" to
me).

The following is not a joke: One of Germany's recent chancellors, who was
known for his poor mastery of English, shared a meal with the president of
an English-speaking country,. After some beers they had together, he
proposed  "You can say you to me" to the English-speaking president. The
latter must have wondered what in the world he meant. We Germans can laugh
heartily about this incident.

 

Fritz

 

 

Rudy Troike wrote:


It was, I think, Steve Marlett who once told me that after working with
a consultant in Mexico for about 6 months, he felt sufficiently close to
the man to use "tu" with him, but the man was so insulted that he refused
to work with Steve any longer. As for Shakespeare's use of "thou" as a
verb, this was undoubtedly calqued from French. In Spanish there is a
verb "tutear", "to use 'tu'" with someone, and there is a sociolinguistic
ritual in inviting someone to "tutear" as a signal of a change in the
relationship.





 

 

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