English usage and grammar

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A community to discuss and ask questions about English usage and grammar.

If your post refers to a specific English variant, please indicate it within square brackets (for instance [Canadian]).

Online resources:

Cambridge English Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus
Gilman's Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. This is a great and witty reference about usage, its history, and its controveries

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(Icon: entry "English" in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1933. Banner: page from Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale".)

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Why does the use of "you two" meaning you plural speaking to a couple, seem rude? (lemm.ee)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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“You all” or “you both” or “you”or “you guys” seems less icky, like they don’t view you as a couple saying “you two”, like you are up to no good.

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[–] SendMePhotos 4 points 4 days ago

I don't know the terminology, but I think it's because it's a direct indirect. It's like saying, "you there" instead of referring by name or using like, "excuse me sir/ma'am" or even skipping the direct call out altogether and saying, "could I get some help"

Basically it skips all formal addressing and is like using slang to people unfamiliar. If you are familiar then it's rude because you should know their names. I think the main time something like that is used is in an informal setting where nobody is actually familiar with each other, or in a scenario where immediate direction is required without prior familiarity.