Gregory's ServerBeen perusing late 17th and early 18th century texts, as one is wont to do, when I came across this pronoun rant.
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I've seen this quote before, but was surprised to actually come across it while reading. For those who wish to see what happens next, the text is available online: https://archive.org/details/historyoflifeoft00ellw/page/24/mode/2up @jetton Few people seem to get that, unlike modern pronoun rants, this was a rant *for* equality against the still newish practice of using ‘you’ to flatter social ‘superiors’. If ‘thou’ was good enough for God, it was good enough for me and thee. Still, a fun rant to look back on. @jetton Someday I want know if there’s a rule for using long S vs curvy S seems like there’s not @notGordonAllport @jetton @notGordonAllport Also if there's a doubled 's', you would generally use short 's' for the second of the two, so for instance "possess" would usually be "poſseſs" rather than "poſſeſs". (This isn't consistent but it was general practice; it's just more readable). @adrienne @jetton @notGordonAllport I've seen a few of these, often with ligatures (even in typeface), so kinda like a modern German ß but with a tail. @jgamble I'm not sure what it says about me that I find the original text easier to read than the modernized one.   @hannah @jetton @carrideen @jetton english reformation/civil war stuff always feels like impenetrable instance drama to me  @jetton @juergen_hubert Thank thou for providing this most Amusing and Correct essay in which the evils of saying You to One are so accurately explicated. I shall endeavour henceforth to give Honour where it is Due and to reserve You for the Plural and Thou for One.  @jetton  @RealGene @jetton Lens would need a special OCR setting to recognize long-S tesseract-ocr using the 'enm' (Middle English?) language picks up most of them, but correctly outputs Unicode with long-S: f'rinstance "ſenſeleſs". (I am more amused than I should be that it renders "ſingle" as "jingle", though)  @jetton LOL! Well, no need to worry. This can all be nicely solved by using YOU to One, and Y’ALL to more than One, which has always been used by DOLLY to Men, etc etc 😄 @seekingfreedom @jetton “used by DOLLY to Men” is such a great line. Highlight of my morning aside from my cup of coffee. @jetton Would it kill you to do a proper alt text? You might as well just write "fuck you blind people" as this non-descriptive copout.  @jetton I'm especially confused that this author seemed to believe that English is an ancient language & that literally any biblical figures were English speakers  @jetton Well, he's not quite right. Thou (subject) & Thee (object) are the singular forms. Ye & You are the corresponding plural forms. So, he should have been advocating for Thee  @androcat   @jetton I love it. I love especially the unhinged way this writer seems to think the bible he reads was always and originally the King James Version. A refined and cultured gentleman who has never heard of Greek or Aramaic. @jetton @timbray Once upon a time “you” was reserved for social equals or betters, and “thou” for people sort of lower down the chain, or folk you were really familiar with. (This still happens in many Indic languages for instance) “You” for everything was both simpler and egalitarian. I can totally see how some would be upset by this!   @tadbithuman @jetton the normal s is uſed at the end of a ſentence, long s is uſed when it's in the middle of a word.  @jetton I mean, he does have a point though. The lack of distinction between plural and singular you is quite annoying to someone speaking English as a second language. @jetton It fure looks like Grouchy crank Defenfef of TRADITION have Alwayf had that all-too-familar ftyle of Random Capitalization. I can't explain that but I can enjoy it anyway. This writer would have loved Facebook.  @jetton @jetton Language is an interesting cognitive and even religious tilt sometimes. https://www.ep.tc/realist/89/67.html  @jetton I can’t speak for anyone else, but my Spirit and Manners have definitely suffered for it. @jetton Things haven't been the same since we stopped using dual pronouns. What's wrong with thinking of people in twos?    I'm astounded that so many people are into 300 year old religious autobiographies. The fediverse never ceases to surprise.  @jetton @Cdespinosa it’s so much better now with “youse” and “y’all” and even “all y’all”. The clarity just keeps improving  @jetton That'ſ quite entertaining; though their love of uſing the 𝑓lamboyant ſ abſolutely doeſ my head in. They could atte lea∫t have employed the even more outrageou∫ one now u∫ed in integral∫ a∫ itte *look∫* a bit like an ∫. I mean s. And not an f (or ƒ or 𝑓... whatevſ). The italic form, such as the first sentence, does look like the integral sign. Not surprising, for the integral sign is an s. Short for summation, or whatever is the latin equivalent. |
@jetton How dare they? 🙃😉