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From: Athel Cornish-Bowden <me@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: How and why did English lose "thou"
Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 11:08:01 +0200
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 2025-05-20 21:14:57 +0000, Grimble Crumble said:

> Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
>> ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) wrote or quoted:
>>> Other languages kept the whole formal/informal thing
>> 
>> So, I've noticed that calling someone "Sir" in English kind of
>> lines up with how we use the more formal "Sie" in German, where
>> there's a bit of distance. On the other hand, if you use "dude",
>> it feels a lot more familiar, like the German "Du".
>> 
>> But it also depends on where you are. Like, if a woman in
>> the audience asks a question during a talk, a speaker in
>> the South might call her "Ma'am!" to bring her into the
>> conversation. If you tried that in England, though, you
>> might get, "Please don't call me 'Ma'am'!"
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> Well thanks for the explanation

Be careful, though, with what Stefan says: he invents a lot of stuff. 
The last sentence strikes me as nonsensical speculation. I'd be 
exceedingly surprised if he's ever heard anyone in England say "Please 
don't call me 'Ma'am'". I certainly haven't, in 82 years.

-- 
Athel cb