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Originally Posted by Minoko
I find English very impolite. Unlike in Japanese, Chinese and Filipino, English doesn't use other names for elders. They may have mom, dad, grandma and grandpa but how about brothers and sisters?
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Even though I'm a native English speaker, after taking/speaking Spanish for a while (and having weeaboo-familiarity with Japanese ways of address) I often feel like I'm being rude when addressing people I greatly respect. I have no other option than to say 'you,' but the uneasy feeling stays just the same.
Something to remember is that English used to have a 'formal' and 'informal' way of talking to people -- it's just that we got rid of it. Pronouns like thee/thou/thy are in fact the informal ways of saying you/yours -- despite the fact that the association with these words today is the exact opposite. In modern English, thee and thou sound extremely formal, probably because of the rare and antiquated contexts in which they are used.
Jam it back in, in the dark.
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