LL-L "Terms of address" 2006.05.11 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 11 May 2006 * Volume 04
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From: "Global Moose Translations" <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Terms of address" 2006.05.11 (02) [E]

Ben wrote:
>Gabriele, when I say higher social rank, I mean people who are older than
me
>and people in the military.

People in the military? Some would say it's hard to rank any lower than
that... (as long as they don't say it around my eldest brother, who is a
retired colonel).

Polite forms of address seem to have been invented mainly in order to
appease those with enough power and influenece to make our lives miserable
if we don't show them enough respect... born out of fear, a gesture of
submission like a puppy throwing himself on his back in the presence of a
strong, aggressive dog.

I wonder whether there is a correlation between the formality of addressing
people and the general level of fear in any society?

Gabriele Kahn

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From: "Kevin Caldwell" <kevin.caldwell1963 at verizon.net>
Subject: LL-L "Terms of address" 2006.05.11 (03) [E]

> From: "Global Moose Translations" <globalmoose at t-online.de>
> Subject: LL-L "Terms of address" 2006.05.10 (01) [E]
>
> I always thought that the Americans were the first to do away with
> differences in "social rank"? So what would you consider higher "social
> rank" in the States - people with more money and influence, or "good
> breeding" and education? And then, of course, there must certainly be
> people
> you consider to be of lower social rank? Have you thought of the
> implications of such concepts?

We didn't really do away with differences in social rank, but we did
increase social mobility and smooth out a lot of the practical effects of
the differences. And the differences mainly have to do with money and
influence. I would certainly say that the CEO of a major corporation is of a
higher social rank than a janitor. The thing is, in the U.S., the janitor
can eventually become a CEO himself.

What Americans don't take kindly to is people of higher social rank looking
down on those of lower rank with disdain (Leona Helmsley comes to mind as an
example), or acting like they are above the law. In other words, we don't
mind if someone has a lot of money or influence, as long as they don't act
like they're better than the rest of us.

Kevin Caldwell

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