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Re: German T/V distinction (was Re: Is the list dead?)

From:Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
Date:Thursday, April 24, 2008, 14:57
On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 2:36 PM, Philip Newton <philip.newton@...> wrote:
> I would address someone as "du" when:
Keith mentioned online -- using "du" is fairly common in German Internet communications such as Usenet; the Wikipedia article says that this probably stems from the fact that certain "in-groups" would tend to use "du" amongst themselves and initially computing was open only to a certain kind of technical-minded person, so users of communication networks felt a bit as if they belonged to a common group and could use "du" freely. At any rate, I've noticed that people on German Usenet will tend to use "du" even if they've never met their addressee before nor been offered the "du". I'm not sure whether this extends to online forums. As for email, things tend to be slightly less formal than in face-to-face communication or paper mail, but I'd still use "Sie" in business emails. (But I'd often start them with "Hallo Herr Müller, Sie haben ..." rather than with "Sehr geehrter Herr Müller! Sie haben ..." as in a letter.) Cheers, -- Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>

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Carsten Becker <carbeck@...>