THE COMPLEXITIES OF TU AND VOUS (COMMENT).

THE COMPLEXITIES OF TU AND VOUS (COMMENT). We got together with some French friends last night and the New York Times article I posted on yesterday came up in the conversation. They all agreed that Alain Juppe was known to be pompous. One lady who had heard him give a speech was emphatic about that, illustrating her point with an imitation of his gestures. They also agreed that using tu or vous could mean a number of things. One lady said that often it suggested a difference in social class: a person of a higher class would use vous (not tu!) to a person of a lower class to maintain the difference between them. She said that she grew up using tu in talking to anybody younger. She always uses tu to men because it makes them feel younger and is a little flirtatious. We all thought it was striking that our two friends who are in a devoted marriage have always used vous with each other.