Mom [OT]

"Helen Wheels" wrote in message
...
badwilson wrote:
"CK" wrote in message
...

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).

Oh, you guys have that siezen and duzen in Finnish too? I just don't
like
that whole concept, one of the reasons I'm so glad I'm mainly an English
speaker now. It always seemed so fake to me how in Germany they call
you
Sie until you "invite them into your inner circle" by asking them to
call
you You. English seems much more informal and casual that way, everyone
is
equal.


Art thou certain?
Try Vietnamese if you want real confusion. I think I learnt at
least seven different forms of "you" depending on whether the
person was related to you, related to your parents, older or
younger (and by how much), male or female, ... and that was only
in beginners' class. Made my head spin.
Helen Wheels

Wow, I think I'll avoid it ;-)
How funny that there is such a difference between Vietnamese and Thai. Thai
is quite informal. I already mentioned that they always go by first names,
it's like last names don't really exist except for bills and stuff.
Actually, I've noticed that calling someone by their first name is formal.
Calling them by their nickname is informal. *Everyone* here has a nickname.
They are always asking me what mine is, but I don't have one. It's just
Britta. I hope I'm not offending anyone. Maybe I should make one
up...maybe I should just be "Bee". They could definitely pronounce that
better than Britta and I do like it much better than the common female
nicknames that they use (Porn, No, No, Ming).
Also, going back to that Sir/Ma'am thing, they only have unisex ones here.
It's Kuhn. For men and women alike. They use Kuhn in front of either their
first name or their nickname and it's used among pretty much equals. I make
our friends call Vino "Kuhn Vino" as a joke, as in "it's Kuhn Vino to you!"
;-)
If you are talking to someone way older or more important than you, you have
to use Pee (this is difficult to do with a straight face, so I tend to avoid
older and more important Thai people). There's also one for someone younger
like a kid, I think it's Nong, but I can't remember for sure.
--
Britta (...uh...Bee)
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered
in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

"Marina" wrote in message
...

"badwilson" wrote

Oh, you guys have that siezen and duzen in Finnish too? I just don't
like
that whole concept, one of the reasons I'm so glad I'm mainly an English
speaker now. It always seemed so fake to me how in Germany they call
you
Sie until you "invite them into your inner circle" by asking them to
call
you You. English seems much more informal and casual that way, everyone
is
equal.

We have it but I feel really uncomfortable when anyone uses it to me. I
suppose it's somewhat equivalent of English Ma'am that way. There's one
vet
at the vet's office that I use who uses the Sie form when she talks to me.
It just makes me squirm. The only time I would use it would be to address
a
stranger who was obviously very elderly.

So it's not used all that commonly then? From what I remember of growing up
in Germany, it is an absolute must, until you are invited to use otherwise.
And I do not feel that I am cutting down any cultures here. I grew up in
Germany and that's where my roots are. I just don't like the language and
much prefer English.
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered
in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

"badwilson" wrote in message
...

the common female nicknames that they use (Porn, No, No, Ming).

Dang spell checker. That's Porn, Nu, Noi, Ning. Every Thai girl's name ;-)
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered
in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

Steve Touchstone wrote:
On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:20:17 GMT, Tanada wrote:

Sorry Dave, I have to differ with you on this one. I don't know if
it's the school, the area of the country, having so many military
parents (though I don't really notice a difference in behavior) or
if I'm just lucky, but most of the kids I work with are very
respectful. Of course there are the 5% that you find in any group
that should be fed to the loo or their parents given retro-active
birth control. But the majority are polite, and well enough
behaved. They just aren't as zombie like as we were when I was in
school. I enjoy their energy and zeal for what they believe in.
The only problem I have is their choices in music.

Pam S.

Well, and maybe choice in clothes, too. I can't understand the boys
wearing pants halfway down the buttcheeks, and some of the outfits
girls copy from MTV. OTOH, I'm seem to remember my parents felt the
same way about high schoolers in my day.

I think parents have been saying the same sort of thing for thousands of
years, and no doubt will continue to in the future.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Milo & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.

"badwilson" wrote

"Marina" wrote
"badwilson" wrote

Oh, you guys have that siezen and duzen in Finnish too? I just don't
like
that whole concept, one of the reasons I'm so glad I'm mainly an
English
speaker now. It always seemed so fake to me how in Germany they call
you
Sie until you "invite them into your inner circle" by asking them to
call
you You. English seems much more informal and casual that way,
everyone
is
equal.

We have it but I feel really uncomfortable when anyone uses it to me. I
suppose it's somewhat equivalent of English Ma'am that way. There's one
vet
at the vet's office that I use who uses the Sie form when she talks to
me.
It just makes me squirm. The only time I would use it would be to
address
a
stranger who was obviously very elderly.

So it's not used all that commonly then? From what I remember of growing
up
in Germany, it is an absolute must, until you are invited to use
otherwise.
And I do not feel that I am cutting down any cultures here. I grew up in
Germany and that's where my roots are. I just don't like the language and
much prefer English.

It's not used that much in Finland, and I don't think it's used in Sweden or
Norway, either. I think it's more commonly used in Germany, though I've only
visited Germany once and didn't pay much attention to it. I did take German
at school, but I never learned it very well. )

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki

Yowie wrote:
"Adrian" wrote in message
...
Jette Goldie wrote:

A few years ago it was "Neighbours" that was causing the
concern...... kids were turning Aussie!

A show which is about to be inflicted on the USA.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Milo & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.

On behalf of all Australians, I am sorry. Deeply deeply sorry.


Yowie

LOL
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Milo & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.

Seanette Blaylock wrote:
Which has me wanting to double-check on a related question: if you're
normally on a "tu" basis with someone and switch to "usted" forms,
will the other person take that as evidence that you're seriously
unhappy with him/her?

Kinda, but I've only seen it happening in soap operas... When two
former lovers break up, the lady very indignant addresses her former
boyfriend using the formal, pretending she doesn't know him well enough
to use the informal. It's cheesy melodrama.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

wrote:
either.) I mean, I guess if it's about age, I can accept that - it's

It is age, most definitely. But if you were her boss, she might still be
more comfortable using the formal form. Also if you are college educated
and she isn't. Titles, unfortunately, carry a lot of weight in Mexico.

She's from Guadalajara, btw.

That's in Central/Western Mexico, 3 hours from my hometown (which is
almost in the geographic center of Mexico).

Cheers.


--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

David Yehudah wrote:
Victor, you may remember the great Mexican singer Pedro Infante. I lived

What kind of question is that? Of course I remember him! I grew up
watching his movies and listening to my dad sing his songs. I have a
double CD with his best songs right here!

with his family for almost a year and was engaged to be married to
Pedro's cousin, Graciela. This was in 59 - 60 when his memory was still

Wow! You could've been a celebrity in Mexico! ;-)

I would raise them that same way. Years later I asked my daughter why
she and her brother were always so well-behaved when everybody else's
children were little heathens (I detest small children to this day). She

Most children are little heathens, or it seems that way from the
screaming brats I see on the street.

replied that they had too much respect for me to act that way. To this
day they still treat me with respect, and when we chat together they
refer to me as "usted."

I'll never get used to using the formal with a family member. I love my
parents and I respect them completely, but they are family! It's about
as informal as it can get.

Cheers.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

Hopitus2 wrote:
Ok Joyce, you say "cranky"; I say, "Quien' en carajo quiere dar un c*l* del
raton', entonces?" This, however, is *not* a Spanish curse. Victor, the

That's too funny!!! It's like when Tom tries to translate an american
expression to spanish...


--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he