John McWhorter

So with du and vous, you can address a single person as vous, as if they're two people, and so you're not hitting the person like this. If you say y'all come back now, you're kind of saying vous come back now. You're taking away the directness to say you, you one individual, I hope you come back and buy another Slim Jim. It's a little direct as opposed to y'all come back.

It's a very courtly thing that y'all.

It's a very courtly thing that y'all.

Is it just a lack of specificity? It's just that you need to pause and clean something up. And you'd rather not have to. Imagine never having to say, I don't mean you all. I mean just you. Or I mean just you, not you all over there. There are larger tragedies. But nevertheless, that is one of those things where, oh, that is one of those things where we have a ding.

Is it just a lack of specificity? It's just that you need to pause and clean something up. And you'd rather not have to. Imagine never having to say, I don't mean you all. I mean just you. Or I mean just you, not you all over there. There are larger tragedies. But nevertheless, that is one of those things where, oh, that is one of those things where we have a ding.

Like, for example, in French, you're driving a rental car. And you're in a big hurry. And all the other cars are parked in a line. And you pull into a space. And you don't really park it right. And the butt of the car is kind of pushing out. So you run down into the little hut and you say, I'm sorry, but my car is sticking out. There's no way to put it that way in French. Nothing can stick out.

Like, for example, in French, you're driving a rental car. And you're in a big hurry. And all the other cars are parked in a line. And you pull into a space. And you don't really park it right. And the butt of the car is kind of pushing out. So you run down into the little hut and you say, I'm sorry, but my car is sticking out. There's no way to put it that way in French. Nothing can stick out.

You can say, I didn't park properly. You can say that the row is uneven. But if you try to say, the car is sticking out and I'm sorry, They don't have it. Now, does that mean that it's hard to be French? I doubt it. But it would be nice if they had that word. It would be nice if we had a thou, or if we could use y'all in the same way. Yeah.

You can say, I didn't park properly. You can say that the row is uneven. But if you try to say, the car is sticking out and I'm sorry, They don't have it. Now, does that mean that it's hard to be French? I doubt it. But it would be nice if they had that word. It would be nice if we had a thou, or if we could use y'all in the same way. Yeah.

Oh, that would be adorable.

Oh, that would be adorable.

Thou. Thou art. Thou art reading. It just sounds like somebody who died 150 years ago. But I could get used to it.

Thou. Thou art. Thou art reading. It just sounds like somebody who died 150 years ago. But I could get used to it.

It's possible. It's funny you say religious because I forgot something, which is that I went to a Quaker school, Friends Select in Philadelphia in the late 70s. And back then, there was the last cohort of teachers, Quaker teachers, who were still using thee and thy and in natural speech, the ones who were super Quaker as in dressing Quaker.

It's possible. It's funny you say religious because I forgot something, which is that I went to a Quaker school, Friends Select in Philadelphia in the late 70s. And back then, there was the last cohort of teachers, Quaker teachers, who were still using thee and thy and in natural speech, the ones who were super Quaker as in dressing Quaker.

And I remember there was this one teacher who would come and look at your paper and say, don't forget to put thy name on thy paper. And he meant it straight. He didn't mean it ironically. And you know part of why I don't like that? I never thought about this. You're making me think about a lot of things I haven't thought about.

And I remember there was this one teacher who would come and look at your paper and say, don't forget to put thy name on thy paper. And he meant it straight. He didn't mean it ironically. And you know part of why I don't like that? I never thought about this. You're making me think about a lot of things I haven't thought about.

Because one day, he decided to take a long trip in a canoe, and he happily you know, pulled out into the Delaware River and, you know, was talking about when he was going to come back and no one ever saw that man again. And I must admit that I associate thou with that man. And that is much too arbitrary. So I can't, laughing at this man's demise, but I need to stop that.

Because one day, he decided to take a long trip in a canoe, and he happily you know, pulled out into the Delaware River and, you know, was talking about when he was going to come back and no one ever saw that man again. And I must admit that I associate thou with that man. And that is much too arbitrary. So I can't, laughing at this man's demise, but I need to stop that.

I would enjoy there being thou, but I'm trying to imagine it imposed on a whole society. And I cannot see my 10 and 13 year old feeling differently about it. But then again, there are aspects of them that I may never know. I'll ask them next time I see them.