ok so is the whole usted being polite thing like asking "does her highness want more wine?" instead of addressing the person directly? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 months ago by Apytele@sh.itjust.works to c/spanish@lemmy.world

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[-] Dicska@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Languages go through silly changes sometimes. I'm almost sure (after a whopping 0% of research) that it all happened because using the formal you sounded more polite/respectful. The weird thing is, in my non-English language speaking country, I grew up hearing that English people just "tú" everyone. And in all fairness, learning Spanish, a LOT of them "tú" everyone literally.

[-] INeedMana@piefed.zip 2 points 3 months ago

Yes, exactly the same here, another non-English country

this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026

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