Since I don’t know you, and I assume you don’t know me, the way you have pointed your language at me demands that I challenge you to a duel.
“Thee/thy/thou” was the familiar or informal, while “you” was formal. You would use the informal with someone who was close to you, a friend or a romantic interest. You would also use the informal as an insult to people you didn’t know well, as a kind of “I’m better than you, so I can use this intimate form to refer to you” thing.
Ultimately, “you” became standard in all cases, because it avoided the possibility of unintended insult. In similar fashion, I think we’ll end up using “singular they” a lot more often, because of the rapidly increasing awareness about gender fluidity and wanting to avoid unintended insult, just like with “you.”
We might end up doing that after some time. It’s similar to why we use “you” instead of “thee/thy/thou.”
Speak for thineself!
Since I don’t know you, and I assume you don’t know me, the way you have pointed your language at me demands that I challenge you to a duel.
“Thee/thy/thou” was the familiar or informal, while “you” was formal. You would use the informal with someone who was close to you, a friend or a romantic interest. You would also use the informal as an insult to people you didn’t know well, as a kind of “I’m better than you, so I can use this intimate form to refer to you” thing.
Ultimately, “you” became standard in all cases, because it avoided the possibility of unintended insult. In similar fashion, I think we’ll end up using “singular they” a lot more often, because of the rapidly increasing awareness about gender fluidity and wanting to avoid unintended insult, just like with “you.”