Usually, it's "Vous" as long as you're talking about an indicative subject.

one who wears those ridiculous wigs >>

not me pal! [well, hardly ever]. and i have many colleagues with regional accents.

I think that you are are living in a past of about 30 years ago or so.

[but I do agree that the wigs are ridiculous].

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...ter-generation

Hey farr,

Another example of the general lessening of standards.

The author claims that

<<French people in their 20s hardly ever use vous>> FALSE!

And then she includes herself in this group:

<<the ones who have had terrible difficulties adopting the Bonjour, Madame and Bonjour, Monsieur>> I have never encountered any such French people!

Finally, the author wraps up the article with a pirouette defending the use of <i>vous</i> after all.

when ask my 20s son about young folk only using Tu he agreed that was the case. Tu, tu and tu even for casual aquaintances - I asked if you are at a party and meet a friend's friend would you use Tu or Vous - Tu sans doubt he said - so he disagrees with Kerouac on that take - seems they use Tu more than Vous except in setting like with store clerks, teachers, etc.

Wonder if kerouac stalks much with younger folk in casual settings?

Can I point out that once again you are using your son as the ONLY expert on French customs/behaviour. Not to say that he is wrong in reporting what happens to him, but that no one person knows what happens in every, or even most situations.

Perhaps Kerouac does indeed meet young people in casual settings, just not the ones that your son meets.

Yes, young people in casual settings due say TU to each other. But they do not live in a young ghetto and have to interact with people of all generations every day. Let them try and get a baguette at the boulangerie if they tutoie the baker's wife or pick up a registered letter at the post office with the same technique.

due = do

Personally I like to speak English to the animals I meet in France. They don't seem to mind either, except for the poodles: they still insist on French & vous.

I always thought a dog is a "vous" and a cat is a "tu".

<Finally, the author wraps up the article with a pirouette defending the use of vous after all>

She's finally realised that playing it safe is the best policy for all forms of social intercourse.

"Wonder if kerouac stalks much with younger folk in casual settings?"

Is the appropriate word for a stalker tu or vous?

Nikki: <i>Is the appropriate word for a stalker tu or vous?</i>

Depends on how close you are to the stalker.

I always thought it interesting that God gets tu'ed.

But doesn't he also get theed rather than thoued?

I think people who did not grow up with a mother tongue using tu/vous, du/Sie, tu/Usted etc. can never never never get it.
And even for those who did, it is not a crystal-clear matter.

First of all, forget about rules.
Well, there is none, except the beaten-to-death general guideline to address anyone except kids in the polite form until invited to use the familiar form.
Rubbish again.
If you are older or in other ways senior it is your job to offer the familiar form to fhe younger one.
Again, more a guideline than a rule.
You would start to address younger folks with the polite form once they reach adulthood, at 18. Probably even a bit sooner.

What Trudeau did when he told his buddy only to tu him in private was quite sensible. It was supposed to show the other members of his cabinet or anyone else than he would not let this friend get too friendly in business or political matters, i.e. would not make favors.

In other cases it can be almost impolite and it is meant as a measure of exclusion to use the polite form. If a person invites you for drinks after a meeting with his friends, and they are all on familiar terms with eachother, it would almost be good etiquette for them to offer you the familiar form.

If a 20something uses the familiar way to address you, a 40something, in a club, you can also take it as a compliment, i.e. that he/she does not think of you as a senior citizen. This is quite common in German and Spanish, not sure to what extent in French. In Catalan, it would be even more normal to use the familiar form for strangers.

So, it can be a tricky matter and there are no fool-proof or one-size-fits-any-situation rules.

"But doesn't he also get theed rather than thoued?"

Depends whether he's the subject or the object.

>>Depends whether he's the subject or the object.<<

It might be Sunday morning, but it's a bit early to get into the metaphysics of theology.

Although it is probably apocryphal, the Emperor Charles V is reputed to have said, "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to my Horse"

It is not known whether he used the polite or familiar "you" in each case.