On 04/08/10 18:28, Paul Hill wrote: > 2010/8/4 Ricardo Aráoz<[email protected]>: > >>> One difference between English and Russian, in English we refer to >>> everyone as "you" in Russia they distinguish between you (my husband) >>> and You (my boss). >>> >> Similar thing in Spanish. We have a familiar "you" ("tu") and a formal >> "you" ("usted") but neither needs be capitalized. >> > The same is true in French (tu/vous), Dutch (u/je) and German. So is > probably true in most other European languages. > > A German colleague told me how her boyfriends father always spoke to > her strictly formally > They had been living together for 10 years, but were not married. >
He probably didn't like her. Here it is also used to express or maintain distance. If you use it with someone with whom you would normally speak non formally then it is a sign of dislike. _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
