Refrénese, hijo

[Tyrn]

Hi,

It's an usted address to an hijo, right? I've seen something like this before: a bunch of old schoolmates are talking, suddenly a plain sentence or two in usted, than back to norm. What is this?

[Tomisimo]

This is common. I've heard people who always use "tu" switch to using "usted" with their little toddlers.

[Rusty]

Especially when a quaint turn-of-phrase, like this one, is being used.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

In many countries, when your parents use "usted" with you, you're in trouble, and it's normally used for giving orders:

- ¡Cállese! ¿Quién le dijo que hablara?
Shut up! Who told you you can speak?

- ¡Apúrese, que vamos a llegar tarde a la escuela!
Hurry up! We're late for school!


But there are some regions, like some parts of Colombia, where the "usted" is used for addressing everyone all the time, your friends, your children, your partner...
I don't know how this works, because I've only seen it on television, but it seems to me an endearing treatment.

[Rusty]

The predominate form of address in Costa Rica is usted, for all persons of all ages. Aun entre los esposos.

Vos is the alternative.

[wrholt]

I have met several people from Colombia who habitually use "usted" to everyone all the time; I have also met several people who habitually use "tú" with some people and "usted" with other people.

I asked some of them about it. From the answers I received, it appears that whether a particular person uses only "usted" or uses both "tú" and "usted" partly depends on the part of the country they are from and partly depends on the customs of their family.

Talking with people whose habitual usage is different from one's own rarely causes misunderstandings; most people have no troubling figuring out what the other person's habitual usage is and accepting it in good faith without comment.

[MathildeWatson]

True, it is as a form of respect and custom for the third person. It is like the Koreans who have different nuances to speak to the grandfather or the older brother.