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#17
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In English the difference was between 'thee' and 'thou' until a couple
of hundred years ago when they morphed into 'you' in common usage. Some Quakers still maintain the distinction. CK wrote: Marina wrote: I suppose our culture is just much more relaxed here in Scandinavia. Everyone uses first names, and hardly ever do you hear a Mr or Mrs, not to mention a Professor or a Sir/Madam (I don't even think we have that kind of words in Swedish or Finnish). I was on first-name basis with my teachers at university from day one. At work everyone, from the head of the department to every part-time teacher, are on first-name basis with each other. The only time you use last names is to avoid confusion if there are several people with the same first name. I've never worked in the corporate world, but as I understand it, the same goes there. I work "in the corporate world" and it's first names galore here too fairly high "up the ladder", except I don't think I'd address any of the big directors by their first names, as I don't meet them on a daily basis and they wouldn't know who I am. Can't expect them to know names and faces of thousands of employees, now can you? I'd address the biggies with Director last name, would "read the situation" from there on, whether to use the "formal you" (teititellä, ni-form, siezen, vouvoyer(sp?)), or the "familiar you" (sinutella, du-form, duzen, tutoyer). |
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