tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post7665531618615469240..comments2023-05-29T14:49:26.349+02:00Comments on Travels without my spaniel: Just a formalitypinolonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-2306062386209515822009-03-30T13:31:00.000+02:002009-03-30T13:31:00.000+02:00Darth! I never answered you!I would hear 'ye' and ...Darth! I never answered you!<BR/><BR/>I would hear 'ye' and know that it is plural, but only cos I'm a geek. My first thought would be that it is an archaic form and I would assume that the speaker is using it to add humour in some way (or maybe that's just cos I'm the class clown :)<BR/><BR/>I've seen it used as 'the' as in 'Ye Olde Englyshe Tea Roome', but that's just silliness for marketing purposes.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the delay...pinolonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-48059665455048050142008-11-28T08:25:00.000+01:002008-11-28T08:25:00.000+01:00Pino,Would you choose to use "ye" as youse? On hea...Pino,<BR/><BR/>Would you choose to use "ye" as youse? On hearing "ye", would your default guess be:<BR/>- it's plural,<BR/>- it's singular,<BR/>- it's 'the',<BR/>- it's American,<BR/>- it's Scots<BR/>- it's obsolete (barring God Rest Ye, but only when by Ian Anderson),<BR/>- or else? Thx.Darth Sidahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08906061326514131771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-65825317997763065532008-11-27T19:32:00.000+01:002008-11-27T19:32:00.000+01:00And for once "Szanowna Pani" doesn't sound so comp...And for once "Szanowna Pani" doesn't sound so complicated. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-81642514955605995072008-11-27T15:38:00.000+01:002008-11-27T15:38:00.000+01:00Ah, Pino, non ti devi preoccupare di queste piccol...Ah, Pino, non ti devi preoccupare di queste piccole sciocchezze! :))<BR/><BR/>You're 100% on the money, though: Italian formal register is a b*tch sometimes. Voi, Lei, and - last but not least - Egli.<BR/><BR/>Life would simply be too boring without them.Jerry Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04266431374431413710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-51953439705867928212008-11-25T10:20:00.000+01:002008-11-25T10:20:00.000+01:00Peixote: 'Loro' has actually been falling ...Peixote: 'Loro' has actually been falling out of use for some time now, to the extent that when I was at uni about four or five years ago we were taught not to use it except in veryveryvery formal situations. <BR/>(Lepschy &Lepschy p 107 ed. Bompiani 2002: 'l'equivalente plurale 'loro' e piu elevato , e tende a essere sostituito da 'voi' '. etc.)<BR/>Also often I find in older books or those set in the southern regions, you see 'Voi' instead of 'Lei'. Italians do this to confuse us.<BR/><BR/>PRQ: exactly! And I've read (but only on the internet and I can't find the ref. now) that in some regional varieties 'youse' is now used as a formal personal pronoun. I think we should reintroduce a plural form. From now on I will address groups of people as 'all y'all'.<BR/><BR/>Expateek: Thanks! Ah well if they're bored they don't have to read the site, it's not compulsory (slashing the Christmas card list even as we speak).pinolonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473418753213565601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-64285450832626103222008-11-25T08:46:00.000+01:002008-11-25T08:46:00.000+01:00Love the bit about browsers clicking shut. One doe...Love the bit about browsers clicking shut. One does wonder, sometimes, if one is boring people to death.<BR/><BR/>Rest assured, <I>you're</I> not.<BR/><BR/>Keep it up! xexpateekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491622502934668348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-3479130992279523112008-11-25T04:50:00.000+01:002008-11-25T04:50:00.000+01:00Just you wait until the formal register is re-intr...Just you wait until the formal register is re-introduced into English. It's true! "You" and "yours" was the formal register, while "thee" and "thine" was the informal.<BR/><BR/>(This topic occupied an entire twenty minutes in a History of English course I took several years ago, and it's all I remember, so I had to bring it up.)<BR/><BR/>It's really not fair that all other languages get to experience this awkwardness while we English speakers suffer such linguistic blandness.PRQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13427076322893089904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5387352645682544869.post-51429877410390349662008-11-25T00:34:00.000+01:002008-11-25T00:34:00.000+01:00...and why is it that, when corresponding with tw......and why is it that, when corresponding with two (or more) people that you want/need to be formal with, you still use "Vi"? As in "Egregi Signori, siamo lieti di informarVi..." and not "informare Loro" as would seem logical?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com