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A comment on Technology and the College Generation. Parent comment

Re:Technology and the College Generation by Swizec on Friday September 27, 2013 @07:48PM (#6460258)
> It is hard to believe that people have become some out of touch with each other that they can't figure out basic social etiquette.

We haven't. But I think society is currently going through a change in basic social etiquette.

Just like when Shakespeare was alive, English still had a formal and informal "you" (you is the formal, thou the informal if I'm not mistaken). These days an esteemed professor might respond to a long and formally addressed email with "yup".

I've had it happen.

Also, it used to be normal for friends to sign letters with things like "Forever yours and eternally devoted, with love, ~Swizec"

Nowadays ... not so much.

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Re:Technology and the College Generation by dragonwriter on Friday September 27, 2013 @07:51PM (#6460268)
> Just like when Shakespeare was alive, English still had a formal and informal "you" (you is the formal, thou the informal if I'm not mistaken).

"you" was the plural and "thou" the singular, and, as is the case in several other languages, tradition was to use the plural in formal contexts (sort of the second-person equivalent of the "royal 'we'".)

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