Saz,
I am not European, but have studied a few languages. Actually English is an exception in NOT having a formal form of address in the second person singular. This may have been a peculiar slant that my various teachers and professors gave to the issue, but I was told that having this form of address is rather a positive as opposed to a negative. By that I mean, that in those cultures, let us take for example Spanish, since many may be familiar with it, that the "tu" form of you is only used for people with whom you are close to, or have affection for, a more intimate form of "you" from the formal. I find that to be a rather nice way to look at it. In English, we just have our catch-all form of you. I, personally, have found it gratifying when in a relationship with someone with whom I converse in another language, that that person begins to address me in the informal form of "you." It says to me that our friendship has gone to a level beyond acquaintances, if you would. Perhaps our European friends have a totally different slant on this matter, but it has never been presented to me in a negative light.
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Order of the Holy Flame
Member of Clan HADB
