In middle English and early modern English there was the distinction between thou and you (nominative case; thee and you for the accusative/dative case), the fi

In middle English and early modern English there was the distinction between thou and you (nominative case; thee and you for the accusative/dative case), the first is familiar and the second is polite. Obviously these days the familiar has been dropped and so indirect idiom takes the place of the honorific.