I always write “tu” except if the person’s profile says that they are much older than me. In swaps or tags, if the person says “tu” to me from the start, I will do so as well, no matter their age.
@yudi, I doubt your, “Let’s pray that…” will upset anyone. Even if the recipient interpreted this in a religious way, the statement does not remark on anyone’s beliefs or lack thereof. I think religious and non-religious people alike will appreciate the hope for a better year!
@whitefroststreetboi, “She’ll have to pry them from our cold, dead crab crackers” is my favorite response to attempted grand cuisine larceny. And now I really want to try a chili crab.
I would see it as religious. While we say “thank God” or “oh my God” without meaning any actual gods, we never say “let’s pray” in the same way. But it’s still not offensive or anything, I’d just see it as a good wish from someone religious.
To pray is even more religious than to thank God, I think.
I suggest to write “luckily it stopped raining” if you want to avoid religious expressions.
Thank you! I also answer “tu” if someone starts this way, but if I’m the one starting the conversation, I go with “vous”, I guess it’s weird to me because I learned that way - but postcards are different and informal, so I’ll start doing like you
I would consider Postcrossing to be a sort of “social club”, which would mean that the members can use “du” and first names with each other (but I can’t promise you that everyone sees it the same way).
There is also the compromise option of using the “formal Du”, where you capitalize the D on pronouns (Du, Dir, Deine, etc). This is mostly done when the recipient is a generation or more older or if the you are “per du” but don’t know each other well.
If I read this on a postcard and didn’t have any other cultural clues, I would perhaps think that the sender is quite religious. But like @PinkNoodle said, I definitely would not be upset and would appreciate the optimistic note.
Dibs on the band name
Me, too. This is the reason I always “duzen” on Postcrossing cards, because we all belong to the same “Verein” / club. I have never once received a German card addressing me with the formal “Sie.”
In Canada it’s way more common to use “tu” than “vous”. Nobody will be offended if you use “vous” though it’s perfectly fine.
No. This form is used in mail. It says nothing about anyone’s age. Before the spelling reform in the 1990s it had to be written with a capital D, after that reform the D was wrong and the d was right - and after the reform of the reform you are free to write du or Du. It says nothing about age or respect.
I was taught in school to use du/Du as I described above. Perhaps the rules are different in Germany. But in any case, I doubt any Postcrosser would be genuinely insulted to receive the “wrong” one.
The rules definitely are different, starting with rules about using the “ß”. But I don’t know anything more exact about the Swiss-German spelling rules in comparison to the German rules. Maybe @anon89508662 can clarify?
Egni discussed that with me in a PM (in German). Her opinion was “Sie/du”.
As I like to find out stuff like that I tried to find some information about the typography rules.
https://www.ortografie.ch/stichwort/anredepronomen.php
That’s all I could find. But in general I think no-one will feel bad if “du” is written in capital letters “Du”. The German spelling really is complicated enough without worrying about that
In Polish, I was taught to always write the 2nd person with a capital letter - out of respect, and I follow it all my life. I write Ty, Tobie, Ciebie, Twój (you + cases, yours) to my closest friends. Actually, I think the closer the relationship, the more natural the use of the capital letter in the 2nd person.
I applied the same principle to German, I had no idea that it would have been just plain wrong at some point.
In Latvian identically.
R.O.C. (Republic of China) is the formal name of Taiwan. Another reason to add is to avoid missent to Thailand I think, so cards with Taiwan (R.O.C.) should be fine. Hong Kong is not a part of R.O.C. in terms of mailing system so not need to write R.O.C. after Hong Kong.
And proud to have more geographical knowledge
Thank you for the clarification!
Hey, I really like the card of Nuremburg, I love history. It is a beautiful sad card (I think this would be the way to describe it)
Let me know if you would like a swap
Thanks
Aishling
If my family received birthday greetings within the MONTH of their birthday, I feel I have done well and they feel lucky!
Hi All, a very interesting tread, I’ve learnt so much about the recommended do’s and don’ts for specific countries,
I am not aware of any for the UK, I think we are all a savy bunch,
My mother is from Malaysia and I have heard the ‘Don’t Write in Red’ so many times especially to Chinese families (and most Asian countries) etc
I usually only write my Postcard ID in Red.
I work in Pharmacy and some hospital pharmacy teams, have colour coded pens, Green for Pharmacists and Red for Pharmacy Technicians, Black and Navy for Dispensers, etc
I once gave a green pen to a patient to sign a document, he was Indian of Bengali origin and he told me that in India and Bangladesh, only Government Officials could write in a green pen on documents. He still signed it, but frowned upon it.
Found it interesting, but has always made me think when I request a postcard going to India.
Could any Indian Postcrossers shed any light on this?