Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!news.albasani.net!news.teledata-fn.de!newsfeed.arcor.de!newsspool2.arcor-online.net!news.arcor.de.POSTED!not-for-mail Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Message-ID: <1915147.cUbPzIXNEk@PointedEars.de> From: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn Reply-To: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn Organization: PointedEars Software (PES) Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:08:40 +0200 User-Agent: KNode/4.10.5 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8Bit X-Face: %i>XG-yXR'\"2P/C_aO%~;2o~?g0pPKmbOw^=NT`tprDEf++D.m7"}HW6.#=U:?2GGctkL,f89@H46O$ASoW&?s}.k+&. <2630b237-bffd-4a98-9fde-3070ddcdb2d2@googlegroups.com> <1513058.a4hMC53v5T@PointedEars.de> Followup-To: poster MIME-Version: 1.0 Lines: 40 NNTP-Posting-Date: 12 Sep 2013 18:08:42 CEST NNTP-Posting-Host: 5fa29237.newsspool4.arcor-online.net X-Trace: DXC=R4PfGPWZ[ Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote: >> Apparently you are unaware that in English (and Western civilization in >> general) it is considered impolite to refer to a person by their >> standalone surname. > > It's a lot more subtle than you realise. > > If you are upper or upper middle class talking to a member of the same > class such as Bertie Wooster then it's polite to say Wooster, but you > can say Bertie if you are a friend or one of his ferocious aunts. > > However if you are talking to a member of a lower class such as the > greengrocer Fred Jones then it is impolite to say Jones, polite to say > Mr Jones. (The stop as in Mr. is usually omitted these days.) > > But if you are talking to your butler or your valet such as Jeeves > then it is normal to use just the surname. Thank you very much for the clarification indeed. However, in “(comp.lang.)javascript” there are no classes. Neither are there in Usenet; As I indicated, this is a meritocracy instead, and that is reflected by using rather informal language. While I realize that it is probably more common in the United Kingdom (and in monarchies in general), I consider thinking based on social classes obsolete in real life. Some may consider that a part of their tradition; I consider it just demeaning. A person should be appreciated for their contributions to society, not for the circumstances into which they were born. Have not (civil) wars been fought, and people died, in order to abolish social status based on birthright once and for all? F'up2 poster -- PointedEars Twitter: @PointedEars2 Please do not Cc: me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.