Re: Distal / polite

On 9/13/05 11:16 PM, "Ben Bullock" typed:

(snip)
> I'm not sure what the difference with distal and polite is.

One thing that has always bothered me about the desumasutai being designated
the "polite" form is that it almost implies that the plain form is rude or
at least impolite. It isn't. When you're chatting with your friend, it would
be impolite, in a sense, to speak too formally.
"Distal" might be a good alternative, contrasting with "familiar."

.

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