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[isham-research.freeserve.co.uk at pop.pol.net.uk]

> .... off the soapbox, and off to bed for me ... :-)  Schlafen sie wohl
> audifans!

Hmm.  On a scale of 1 to n that includes spelling flames and gun control,
where does a thread on the correct capitalisation of German pronouns
lie?

Obviously 'sie' should be 'Sie' - but even that's not correct these days.

The Internet is having a curious effect on the German language.
Traditionally, the familiar pronouns (Du, ihr) and their verb
declensions are reserved for conversations with members of your family,
very close friends, children and animals.  And God, and in certain ways
in command chains, e.g., the army. Using the wrong pronoun (if you know
what you're doing) can be dangerous - a motorist was once fined DM5000
for using 'Du' instead of 'Sie' to a policeman.  "Verleumdung eines
Beamten", if I remember correctly.  No - if you're a beginner trying out
your school German this doesn't apply to you - it only applies to people
who obviously know that using 'Du' to a stranger implies an insult.

The familiar pronouns and their participles are traditionally also used
between students, and this perhaps explains their almost universal
adoption on the Internet.  Steve was correct in his use of the
impersonal for strangers, but current German usage on the Internet
(there are links to the German fora on my home page) is universally
familiar - Du, ihr, etc.

It's interesting that this carries across to face-to-face meetings.
When I met up in person with some German ur-quattro fans (the ur-quattro
is now referred to as the "uri" in German) we were immediately on 'Du'
terms - in a golf club that met on normal terrestrial terms, this might
have taken twenty years.

In some ways it's useful.  The "uri" fans at the German celebration in
Ingolstadt were universally using "Du" to each other.  The Audi people
were using "Sie" to everyone.  Standing in a round of ten people with
two of them Audi employees, it was fun to watch pronouns and participles
changing depending on who was talking to whom and what they meant to
say.  The most fun came from comments addressed to the Audi people.  If
it was meant in a spirit of co-operation, e.g., "Let's fix this together"
then Audi was referred to as "Ihr".  If there was contention, the
formal "Sie" was used.  The Audi people taking part in the discussion
were alternately included in the group and excluded from it, merely
by changes in pronouns.  German can be one HELL of a powerful language.

It looks as if the Internet is taking German down the road that English
took centuries ago when "thee" and "thou" were abandoned.  "You", of
course, is simply a vocalisation of the stonemason's shorthand for
"thou" - many late medieval English gravestones show a "You" with a dot
between the prongs of the "Y" - "thou" in shorthand.

--
 Phil Payne
 UK Audi quattro Owners Club
 Phone +44 7785 302803   Fax: +44 7785 309674