Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
Well,------- "you", of course.
I didn't see it anywhere else in the thread, but I seem to recall from one source or another modern English being described as a very formal language, in that it no longer has a familiar form, forms which are preserved in other languages like French (the only one I have direct experience with).

It's an interesting comparison: using "you" for both intimates and strangers alike at once keeps a distance and yet makes no distinction; it precludes further intimacy while also preventing a slight when used by someone of lower "status" (a stranger, someone younger, a subordinate, etc).

Hooray for English, and for learning another language!