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

Hi!

Doug Barr writes:
>...
> I also find it hard to get through to English speakers that Gaels do
> *not* use the equivalents of Mr. and Mrs. with each other. My
> students naturally want to call me Mr. Barr, but I have to explain to
> them that they should call me Dughall but use "sibh" to me. The
> "sibh" part, they get - but calling me by my first name goes against
> the grain of English politeness...
>...
It's interesting that this combination is used in German schools (at
least in mine): for the older students, there is a switch to 'Sie'
when teachers address them (I don't remember when this switch was
done, presumable starting with the 11th grade).  But still, the given
name of the students was used: 'Henrik, wissen Sie, ob ....'.  The
teachers, OTOH, were addressed by surname by the students: 'Herr XYZ,
wissen Sie denn, ob...'.

**Henrik

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