Re: German 'duzen' and 'siezen' - etymology ?

On 10/23/06, Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> wrote:
> Once in my first Span. conversation class, we had a substitute teacher, a
> young man recently out of Cuba (this was in the 60s)-- he asked us to
> introduce ourselves, and I was first in line (also probably older than the
> teacher :-( ) -- I said "Soy Sr. Mills" and he hit the ceiling, telling me I
> was being, in effect, snooty and superior, and said "Soy [Roger Mills]" was
> the only proper way. (Our regular teacher, an older woman of some
> distinction, always addressed us as Sr/Srta.)
My understanding from my Spanish class days (which took place
approximately halfway between your Spanish class and today) is that
the snooty superiority comes from referring to *oneself* as Sr/Sr[t]a.
 You should introduce yourself as [Roger Mills] even though you expect
your interlocutor to address you in future as "Sr. Mills" rather than
as "Roger".



--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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