Linguistics question: the formal "you" in Europe.

[swag]

The Spanish youth: have they all abandoned the formal "you" except in the most formal situations? If so, in what regions, towns of Spain. Them dialects are all over the place. Whole syllables of parts of speech have gone missing in Andalusia.

And has the linguistic erosion of the formal/familiar boundary spread across Europe to other countries whose citizens once allegedly predominantly spoke Romance languages with formal and familiar forms of "you?" France? Portugal?

Is it possible to insult someone with a good tu any more? Or at all?

Fill me in. I'm a dumbfuck. And thanks in advance.

Oh, by the way, I'm happy for the lady who got the facial. Can't remember who that was. Anyway, congratulations.

[bicentennial_baby]

1. I think it's still pretty standard in France to use both

in the appropriate cases, of course. :)

[CottonBear]

2. "Como esta" versus "como esta usted"? My Spanish is so very poor...

I took a year of Latin and four years of Espanol (Cuban Espanol) in high school in the 1970s..but no one to practice with... :(

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. I am certain that the old rules apply in Germany....

As well as in France, as bicentennial_baby says above.

I am guessing that the old applies in Italy as well.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Back when I was still a language instructor, one of my colleagues co-wrote

a German textbook. The authors purposely didn't introduce "du" until the middle of the year, because they didn't want American college students to go over to Germany or Austria thinking that they were being "friendly" by calling everyone "du."

Their reasoning was that most people who go to a German-speaking country for the first time interact mostly with strangers and should therefore thoroughly learn the formal forms before the informal.

However, I've heard that the formal/informal distinction is disappearing in the Scandinavian countries.

[FuzzySlippers]

4. All I know is that a French waiter in Minneapolis

once tutoyed me, and I was incensed!:mad:

S'pose he thought I wouldn't know the difference.

[tuvor]

5. I hope you didn't tip him. n/t

[FuzzySlippers]

8. Nah. I didn't tip him.

But then I didn't pay the bill.:silly:

[Aristus]

6. The Germans are still pretty strong on the formal "Sie" instead of

the casual "du" until you've known a person for, oh, say thirty years. They are very forgiving with tourists, though. If an American says "du" while speaking German, they will politely let it pass. Most Germans I encountered were very friendly, and respected a person who made an effort to speak the language.

[swag]

7. Thank you all for the good answers.

[sundog]

9. that's so cheap

you just demonstrated the most crass of crass pluralizations

your post would have required a blanket "vous"

whereas if you had answered each person individually you could have said "tu" to each & every one

this is just sick

[swag]

10. I was just cutting costs to please shareholders.

Such is the genius of capitalism.

Quit your whining, you fucking cost center.

[GoneOffShore]

11. Can tell you about France

but not Spain.

Vous is still the standard in restaurants, shops and transport. Tutoyer is still usually reserved for people you've known for a while or when speaking to young children.

[FuzzySlippers]

13. Hey Swag. Not that you're asking but I'm gonna guess

those pics are from the yearbook of Cental High School in Little Rock. Am I close?

[swag]

14. Right continent. Very good.

http://www.just1way.org/Beadle/Schools/1948Sr3.html

[FuzzySlippers]

15. Well. I was close.

:shrug:

[swag]

16. Did you think you saw someone you knew?

Or was it just a certain smell? A Proustian recollection?

[FuzzySlippers]

17. It was just the one black kid among all the white kids.

I thought you were maybe making some homage to the history of public school integration.:shrug:

[swag]

18. No,

I had just image-googled "Spanish grammar" or something, and there they were.

I thought they were lovely.

[FuzzySlippers]

19. They are indeed lovely,

but :wtf: do they have to do with Spanish grammar?