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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Correct, David. And the same goes for "Sie" (the polite form of address in German) and "Du" (the familiar form, and cognate to the lost-but-not-forgotten "thou" in English).
When in doubt, we native English speakers should always go for the polite form of address - better to be smiled at while addressing a child as "usted" than to be frowned upon while addressing a grandmotherly type as "tu."
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stranger
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stranger
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If I may bring up German again, where the use of the dual system of second person pronouns is alive and well: the inferior/superior distinction ("du" and "Sie", respectively) aptly sums up how it works. However, some of the fine points of the game are rather interesting. My favorite example: when hikers reach a certain altitude (I've forgotten how high, but pretty high up), everyone is permitted, even expected to address each other with the familiar "du" form of address!
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stranger
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stranger
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I like the expression "ear candy" ("mind candy" is even better), but it seems to refer only to music that is easy and pleasant to listen to, but not music you can't get out of your head. So "Ohrwurm", ugly as it sounds, is probably too positive in its connotations to fit the gap of the word you were looking for to denote the state in which a tune won't stop playing in your head. Oh well.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Posts: 1,981 |
I'll give you the fuller quote about the Quaker "thee" and you can decide for yourselves.
... It is also used as nominative case (a use unaccounted for) by Quakers (Perhaps thee has noticed the point in our Friends journal ...)
So he acknowledges that the usage is unusual. I would be suprised if the quotation were a mistake. There were, presumably, other examples.
Perhaps Paulb can enlighten us.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Finally talked to a friend (not Friend) of mine who grew up
in a Quaker family here in the States. She said her
great-aunts, who I'm guessing must have been born in the
early part of the century, did not use thee, etc.
She and I both thought that perhaps some of the more strict
groups might still use these terms.
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addict
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addict
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Posts: 460 |
I've only heard 'thee' used in a lighthearted sense, and I don't think I've ever seen it written in [Australian] Quaker publications. It may still be use in the more evangelical Quaker communities in America and, possibly (although I doubt it) in Africa.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Tsuwm--
>>and ever since I've had one of the songs stuck in my head (is there a word for that?) <<
Yes, it's a form of obsession, or obsessive thinking:
perseverance of thought. (That's per-SEV-er-ance, not
per-se-VER-ance).
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member
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member
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> I was never quite sure when to "tu" and when to "usted" - its probably one of those things that makes a foreigner look quite rude in Spain. It’s so hard for me using the same “you” with a friend or with a stranger!. We use “tu” with friends, family or young people, and when we want to slight a stranger. We even have the word “tutear” that is using “tu” with somebody. And we can say with dignity: “How do you (usted) dare ‘tutearme’?”. One sad experience that almost every Spaniard have to undergo in his life is when for first time a stranger young person address you using “usted”. You think “How a boy like me is using ‘usted’ when talking to me?. Or, maybe, I’m no longer a boy?”.  Juan Maria.
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addict
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addict
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>>One sad experience that almost every Spaniard have to undergo in his life is when for first time a stranger young person address you using “usted”. You think “How a boy like me is using ‘usted’ when talking to me?. Or, maybe, I’m no longer a boy?”. << Juanmaria, I can sympathise! Somehow, somewhen, between visits to France, I graduated from being addressed by strangers as Mademoiselle to being Madame! Made me feel like I'd aged ten years, gone grey and put on forty pounds... It didn't help that I had aged (some, but not ten) years, gone (a little, round the temples) grey and put on (some, not forty) pounds!
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