aleCcowaN
July 22, 2011, 01:45 PM
That sounds like you think there was some sort of conspiracy. . .
Not at all, you are simply pointing personal anecdotes as a selector between formal and informal ways, even when that distinction is not so quite when it involves just pronouns. In some countries like Guatemala, "tú" stands in an intermediate position between "vos" and "usted" so "tú" has enough formality built in it, a sort "cordial formality". That is true to some 10-12% Spanish speakers in seven or eight countries.
I chalked it up to the flow of machismo among young males in Guatemalan culture. Being "too polite" to another young person might be perceived as soft/weak/feminine, and therefore "gay," which I think in that country is even more of a pejorative among young males than it is in the United States.
That happens everywhere, including the States. Using "usted" among youths is weird, so the one who uses it must be weird him or herself. If a "he", as it would be an extremely educated and demure way to treat his fellows, he must be gay. Youngsters also use "usted" to address the elder and the authorities, so, if they address their mates as "usted" they are subordinating to them like a beta dog to an alpha one, so, again, they must be gay, as they are "doing the split" gratuitously -so it has to be willingly-. This is true most of all if they are between ages from 8 to 16, when people behave as a primitive bunch and half of them feels the need to file down all the homo-something burrs of their developing egos. If kept at an age of 18, 20, 25 or 30, that is not "machismo" but a puerile state of mind. Cultural promotion of that doesn't make it less puerile, and it also doesn't make less true the wicked saying "el que lo parece, lo es, y el que no, también".
I wonder what had all of this to do with the formal-informal axis in Spanish. Then, I repeat "Yes, sure. Formal language was invented to convey gayness :rolleyes:."
Even in informal dialogue?
Do you know of any free ebooks from Argentina on the internet? I want to compare them to books from Spain and Mexico and see how the word choice differs. Or do they just write books (even ones not for meant to be published internationally) in some sort of neutral Spanish that is impossible to place? I heard that in Andalusia, Spain, for instance, people deliberately write in the standard Spanish of Spain, and follow all of those conventions instead, so maybe they do the same in Argentina.
You keep changing the subject -the topic in consideration-, the subject -of your analysis- and the object -purpose- without ever knowing. Books in Argentina first, books from Argentina later. A book from Argentina and the Internet is quite an oxymoron. Perhaps, you may reword your question, as you are writing in your native language, and state what you are talking about, authors? editors? public? media?
Not at all, you are simply pointing personal anecdotes as a selector between formal and informal ways, even when that distinction is not so quite when it involves just pronouns. In some countries like Guatemala, "tú" stands in an intermediate position between "vos" and "usted" so "tú" has enough formality built in it, a sort "cordial formality". That is true to some 10-12% Spanish speakers in seven or eight countries.
I chalked it up to the flow of machismo among young males in Guatemalan culture. Being "too polite" to another young person might be perceived as soft/weak/feminine, and therefore "gay," which I think in that country is even more of a pejorative among young males than it is in the United States.
That happens everywhere, including the States. Using "usted" among youths is weird, so the one who uses it must be weird him or herself. If a "he", as it would be an extremely educated and demure way to treat his fellows, he must be gay. Youngsters also use "usted" to address the elder and the authorities, so, if they address their mates as "usted" they are subordinating to them like a beta dog to an alpha one, so, again, they must be gay, as they are "doing the split" gratuitously -so it has to be willingly-. This is true most of all if they are between ages from 8 to 16, when people behave as a primitive bunch and half of them feels the need to file down all the homo-something burrs of their developing egos. If kept at an age of 18, 20, 25 or 30, that is not "machismo" but a puerile state of mind. Cultural promotion of that doesn't make it less puerile, and it also doesn't make less true the wicked saying "el que lo parece, lo es, y el que no, también".
I wonder what had all of this to do with the formal-informal axis in Spanish. Then, I repeat "Yes, sure. Formal language was invented to convey gayness :rolleyes:."
Even in informal dialogue?
Do you know of any free ebooks from Argentina on the internet? I want to compare them to books from Spain and Mexico and see how the word choice differs. Or do they just write books (even ones not for meant to be published internationally) in some sort of neutral Spanish that is impossible to place? I heard that in Andalusia, Spain, for instance, people deliberately write in the standard Spanish of Spain, and follow all of those conventions instead, so maybe they do the same in Argentina.
You keep changing the subject -the topic in consideration-, the subject -of your analysis- and the object -purpose- without ever knowing. Books in Argentina first, books from Argentina later. A book from Argentina and the Internet is quite an oxymoron. Perhaps, you may reword your question, as you are writing in your native language, and state what you are talking about, authors? editors? public? media?