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  • Old-fashioned english

    Specifically, MISUSING old-fashioned English.

    This is just a pet peeve of mine.

    But if you don't know the difference between Thy, Thee, and Thou, don't use any of them. Please.

    Unless you're a Quaker, I suppose, then make with the thous.
    "Nam castum esse decet pium poetam
    ipsum, versiculos nihil necessest"

  • #2
    I'm surprised this would be a problem... particularly "thy."

    I -> thou
    Me -> thee
    My -> thy

    ...is that right? the second two even sound like the first person version.
    "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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    • #3
      Thou, thee, thy/thine are all 2nd person singulars.

      In other words, they all replace different uses of the word you as a singular pronoun.

      Thou shalt not kill = You shall not kill
      I will meet you, to speak there unto thee = I will meet you (plural), and speak to you (singular) there
      I will be thy (or thine) mouth = I will speak for you

      ^-.-^
      Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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      • #4
        I use to be the go to read out louder for the class in high school whenever we did Shakespeare because I was the only one that could add the proper inflections and gravitas to it.

        <hangs head in shame>

        The teacher always picked me, qq. She didn't at first, but the class started nominating me. >.>

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Gravekeeper View Post
          I use to be the go to read out louder for the class in high school whenever we did Shakespeare because I was the only one that could add the proper inflections and gravitas to it.

          <hangs head in shame>
          Why is that shame?

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          • #6
            I am adamantly against the reading of Shakespeare out loud by high school students primarily because very few, if any, know how to speak iambic pentameter, especially Shakespeare's bastardization of it. (When you actually take the time to do the text work...mark the syllables, find the trochees, feminine feet, and the like, you realize that it's not all that well-constructed.) Find a good film version and have 'em watch it. Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet or the Marlon Brando version of Julius Caesar.

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            • #7
              I am having flashbacks to Cyan in Final Fantasy VI...

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Gravekeeper View Post
                I use to be the go to read out louder for the class in high school whenever we did Shakespeare...
                I, too, was often chosen to read out loud, but not just for Shakespeare.

                Thankfully, my teachers didn't make me read everything of anything, they just had me start out because I could read anything and had good projection, so I'd set the right tone at the start.

                ^-.-^
                Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Andara Bledin View Post
                  Thou, thee, thy/thine are all 2nd person singulars.

                  In other words, they all replace different uses of the word you as a singular pronoun.

                  Thou shalt not kill = You shall not kill
                  I will meet you, to speak there unto thee = I will meet you (plural), and speak to you (singular) there
                  I will be thy (or thine) mouth = I will speak for you

                  ^-.-^
                  Thanks; I *do* know they're second person. I was pairing them with first person pronouns because "you" stays the same while both "I/me" and "thou/thee" change. At least, I'm pretty sure they do. And also because I haven't had a grammar lesson in 20 years and can't think of the terms separating I, he, and she from me, him, and her.
                  "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I much prefer the dialogue in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and it's following seasons (though I haven't seen any of Vengeance yet, damn not having digital cable).

                    I'm sure no one really talked that way, but damn it's funny. "Once again the Gods spread cheek and ram cock into fucking ass!"

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by blas87 View Post
                      I'm sure no one really talked that way, but damn it's funny. "Once again the Gods spread cheek and ram cock into fucking ass!"
                      Not so sure about the language itself, although that's supposed to be a fair representation with substitution for modern swear words, however the syntax is supposed to be similar.
                      I am a sexy shoeless god of war!
                      Minus the sexy and I'm wearing shoes.

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                      • #12
                        After watching that show, I actually started saying things like "It weighs heavy on my heart" and some of the more mild things, along with the colorful ones that were saved for a select few.

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                        • #13
                          I know that 'Ye' means 'you' and so many use it to mean 'the' which is incorrect.

                          There was a pub near where I used to live called 'Ye Olde Leathern Bottle' and it was rather awesome, so I'll let that one off

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                          • #14
                            Ye Olde is used alot over here, but aparantly it is not oldie just old with a silent e.

                            With regards as to it not meaning The, well it's been used so much that it now is even if it never was when in active circulation.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by HYHYBT View Post
                              Thanks; I *do* know they're second person. I was pairing them with first person pronouns because "you" stays the same while both "I/me" and "thou/thee" change. At least, I'm pretty sure they do. And also because I haven't had a grammar lesson in 20 years and can't think of the terms separating I, he, and she from me, him, and her.
                              Nominative, objective, and possessive are the terms you're seeking.

                              Plus, while you say you know they're second person, you used them all in first person fashion.

                              As for the addition of Ye to the mix, that's a replacement for the second person plural nominative in common speech. The The, Thou, Thy/Thine trio are part of poetic speech used for the writing of poetry and religious texts. The poetic second person singular nominative would be You.

                              A more modern example of use of those words is in the song America, which starts out, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing," which is correctly used second person singular objective.

                              ^-.-^
                              Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                              Comment

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