Pronouns of the Second Person

"Anomalous usages have sprung up in connection with these pronouns. The plural form has almost wholly superseded the singular; a usage more than five centuries old. [24] "The motive is courtesy. The singling out of one person for addre is supposed to be a liberty or an exce of familiarity; and the effect is softened or diluted by the fiction of taking in others. If our addre is uncomplimentary, the sting is le ened by the plural form; and if the reverse, the shock to modesty is not so great. This is a refinement that was unknown to the ancient languages. The orators of Greece delighted in the strong, pointed, personal appeal implied in the singular 'thou.' In modern German, 'thou' ( du ) is the addre of familiarity and intimacy; while the ordinary pronoun is the curiously indirect 'they' ( Sie ). On solemn occasions, we may revert to 'thou.' Cato, in his meditative soliloquy on reading Plato's views on the immortality of the soul before killing himself, says: 'Plato, thou reason est well.' So in the Commandments, 'thou' addre es to each individual an unavoidable appeal: ' Thou shall not——.' But our ordinary means of making the personal appeal is, 'you, sir ,' 'you, madam ,' 'my Lord , you——,' etc.; we reserve 'thou' for the special case of addre ing the Deity. The application of the motive of courtesy is here reversed; it would be irreverent to merge this vast personality in a promiscuous a emblage. "'You' is not unfrequently employed, like 'we,' as a representative pronoun. The action is represented with great vividne , when the person or persons addre ed may be put forward as the performers: 'There is such an echo among the old ruins, and vaults, that if you stamp a little louder than ordinary, you hear the sound repeated'; 'Some practice is required to see these animals in the thick forest, even when you hear them close by you .' "There should not be a mixture of 'thou' and 'you' in the same pa age. Thus, Thackeray (Adventures of Philip): 'So, as thy sun rises, friend, over the humble house-tops round about your home, shall you wake many and many a day to duty and labor.' So, Cooper (Water-Witch): ' Thou hast both master and mistre ? You have told us of the latter, but we would know something of the former. Who is thy master?' Shakespeare, Scott, and others might also be quoted. "'Ye' and 'you' were at one time strictly distinguished as different cases; 'ye' was nominative, 'you' objective (dative or accusative). But the Elizabeth an dramatists confounded the forms irredeemably; and 'you' has gradually ousted 'ye' from ordinary use. 'Ye' is restricted to the expre ion of strong feeling, and in this employment occurs chiefly in the poets."—Bain's "Composition Grammar." Proof. This word is much and very improperly used for evidence , which is only the medium of proof , proof being the effect of evidence . "What evidence have you to offer in proof of the truth of your statement?" See also Evidence . Propose—Purpose. Writers and speakers often fail to discriminate properly between the respective meanings of these two verbs. Propose , correctly used, means, to put forward or to offer for the consideration of others ; hence, a proposal is a scheme or design offered for acceptance or consideration, a proposition. Purpose means, to intend, to design, to resolve; hence, a purpose is an intention, an aim, that which one sets before one's self . Examples: "What do you purpose doing in the matter?" "What do you propose that we shall do in the matter?" "I will do" means "I purpose doing, or to do." "I purpose to write a history of England from the acce ion of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living."—Macaulay. It will be observed that Macaulay says, "I purpose to write " and not, "I purpose writing ," using the verb in the infinitive rather than in the participial form. "On which he purposed to mount one of his little guns." See Infinitive .