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epitome of incomprehensibility
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Writing about Jane_Austen, I claimed that a difference between England in the late 1700s and 1800s and the Here and Now is that indirectness isn't as big a part of politeness. But isn't it still, somewhat? I guess it depends on the Here almost as much as the Now.
Lisa, my German teacher in immer_immersion, expressed frustration at the Canadian style of politeness. Be direct. Say what you mean. She found the frequent indirectness passive-aggressive or at least unclear.
And...true. Sometimes it is. I agree with her, even as I'd probably answer the question "Do you like sauerkraut?" with "Well, I like other things better," rather than a plain old "No." I guess it depends if the asker seemed to WANT me to like sauerkraut. In Canada, there's a culture of not wanting to cause offense, or at least SEEMING not to want to cause offense. Maybe.
"Maybe." In German, maybe is "veilleicht" (pronounced like fee-li(kh)t with the famous velar_fricative fronted to a palatal one, so a sound between "kh" and "sh"). But German politeness does get a little indirect. You introduce words of doubt. If you want to ask someone to turn off the light, you can ask, "Can you maybe turn off the light?" instead of using a "please." The "please" word, "bitte," sounds too businesslike or impersonal for casual requests like that.
Buuuut y'all are getting this secondhand and it probably varies from region to region in the Land of Germs. Plus, it's subject to the usual change across time.
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250120
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