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“You” is also a polite plural that became default and displaced “thou”. Probably slightly differently but in the same category. https://www.merriam-webster.com
by wruza 4y ago
“You” is also a polite plural that became default and displaced “thou”. Probably slightly differently but in the same category.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-stop-using-thou https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-sto...
The pronoun that had previously been restricted to addressing more than one person (ye or you) started to see service as a singular pronoun. Initially you was used to refer to a person of high social standing (such as royalty, who would be addressed as “your majesty”) but soon came to be used as well when speaking with a social equal.
As a result, poor thou was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as a servant. However, this pronoun did not disappear, as it also functioned as an indicator of familiarity or intimacy, and retained its function as a singular form of address for God in many cases in ecclesiastical writings.
- hnbad 4y agoAn odd artefact of this difference is that in many English speaking TV shows (especially up to the 2000s) translators would use the more formal "Sie" by default even when the show itself clearly suggested a level of familiarity or intimacy that made this weird.
- mlatu 4y ago> was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as [...] a singular form of address for God what do you mean i messed up the context?