Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Zach Weinersmith (zachweinersmith@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 29-Sep-2023 21:44:09 JST Zach Weinersmith

   Now that Y'all has won the Second Person Plural Wars, can we add the use of "Mr./Ms. [First Name]"? It's the ideal intermediate formality level for kids because you neither have the awkwardness of a kid calling an adult Alice, nor the overformality of calling her Mrs. Johnson. "Ms. Alice" is the ideal.

   • clacke repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Tobias (krono@toot.berlin)'s status on Friday, 29-Sep-2023 21:44:09 JST Tobias

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith In Germany, we have the "weird" distinction of formal and informal addressing (which English got rid of somewhen, just addressing everyone formally "you", except for old bile stuff that remained with "thou art").
     Anyway, there is the "Munich Du", that is informal + lastname (aka cashiers formal) and "Hamburg Sie", that is formal + firstnamme. And then there is "Berlin Er", which is using 3rd person instead of 2nd person.

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Tobias (krono@toot.berlin)'s status on Saturday, 30-Sep-2023 00:44:47 JST Tobias

     • goatsarah

     @goatsarah @ZachWeinersmith You know Nena? "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann" "Somehow, Somewhere, Somewhen"…

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 30-Sep-2023 00:53:37 JST clacke

     • goatsarah
     • Tobias
     @goatsarah @krono @ZachWeinersmith Sounds like a word that would show up in a time travel plot. 😃
   • Embed this notice
     number137 (number137@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 30-Sep-2023 00:53:38 JST number137

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith ah, the hybrid forms of formality and intimacy 🙃

     reminds me of various somewhat informal forms in regional German, like the "Hamburger Sie" combining the giving name with the formal "sie" pronoun
     or vice versa the "Munich Du" with the informal (singular) "Du" and the family name including an honorific flung in

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Zach Weinersmith (zachweinersmith@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:22:04 JST Zach Weinersmith

     in reply to

     • Grant Goodale

     @ggoodale
     Y'all = you people
     All y'all = you large group of people
     All a-y'all = you large group of people I am mad at

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Grant Goodale (ggoodale@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:22:09 JST Grant Goodale

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith but according to Texas canon, y’all is second person singular? Plural is “all y’all,” right?

   • Embed this notice
     Robert Atkins (ratkins@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:25:55 JST Robert Atkins

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith I’m not sure I agree with youse that y’all won 😛

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:25:57 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Robert Atkins
     @ratkins @ZachWeinersmith Is youse used outside all-a-youse?
   • Embed this notice
     Oggie (oggie@woof.group)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:26:03 JST Oggie

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith I just want a gender-neutral sir/ma'am.

     It's been driving me nuts since the 90s.

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Oggie (oggie@woof.group)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:26:05 JST Oggie

     in reply to

     • Glitzersachen.de

     @glitzersachen @ZachWeinersmith
     My particular use case is in person, 'Excuse me sir/ma'am'.

     Interestingly, there is the written english thing, though I'm not sure how much it's in use, of just M. <name>, which I've seen in letters and even emails. The implication is it can be Mr or Mrs or Ms and it's formal, but it's certainly genderless. Doesn't fit with what Zach was talking about in the use case (it's very 'proper'), but this just touched on something I have been feeling for a while.

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Glitzersachen.de (glitzersachen@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:26:07 JST Glitzersachen.de

     in reply to

     • Oggie

     @Oggie

     Dear Gentleperson, ...

     @ZachWeinersmith

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 16:33:43 JST clacke

     in reply to

     @ZachWeinersmith I'm "uncle Claes" to kid's friends. I told one just "Claes" is fine, but as his face became a mix of confusion and distress I reassured him "uncle Claes" is just fine too.

     This is in Hong Kong, in English.

   • Embed this notice
     Robert Atkins (ratkins@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Dec-2023 23:41:15 JST Robert Atkins

     in reply to

     • clacke

     @clacke @ZachWeinersmith Oh yeah. Some of youse can say “all ‘a youse” but all ‘a youse can just say “youse” if ya like.

     clacke likes this.