Dude, That's So 80's

[starshipcat]

I did my BA in Russian Language and Literature in the late 80's, back when there was still a Soviet Union. As a result, I learned all the old Soviet forms of address, since they were what we'd be expected to know and understand if we were to go over there and actually need to communicate in the language

Comments

[asher63]

Interesting. I assume "comrade" as a term of address was meant to signal egalitarianism in the class struggle. I believe it's "tovarishch" in Russian? It was something of a cliche in English-language Cold War fiction to have everybody addressed as "Comrade".

English, of course, discarded the second-person familiar "thee/thou" in the 17th Century. Whether this was connected with the upheavals of the Cromwell era or not, I wouldn't know, although I had one English prof who did claim it was a reaction to the excessive use of the familiar "thee/thou" by the Quakers and other egalitarian sects.

As I understand it, two areas in the Spanish-speaking world - Costa Rica and rural Colombia (outside of Bogota) - use the formal "Usted" exclusively, even with close friends and family, rather than "tu".

[asher63]

But the real question is: Are we going to have to address Mr. Kaputsa as Comrade Kaputsa?