XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.english.usage   
   From: gadekryds@lundhansen.dk   
      
   Christian Weisgerber wrote:   
      
   > Such things can change rapidly.  The formerly common practice of   
   > addressing acquaintances or colleagues by first name and formal   
   > pronouns ("Hamburger Sie") disappeared from German usage over the   
   > course of the 1980s or thereabouts.   
      
   When I was a child, the informal pronouns were used within the family,   
   between good friends and between children. My uncle once 'reproached' me   
   for not using "du" when talking to him.   
      
   It changed in the 1968+ turmoil. Today we only use the polite form when   
   addressing royalty, and even that is changing in an informal context.   
      
   --   
   Bertel   
   Kolt, Denmark   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)