tutoyer

v: to address familiarly

"Yes, now (to the outside world) we were on first-name terms, now to anyone within earshot I tutoyered him." - Marie Brenner, Tell Me Everything

Did You Know?

In conversational French, the pronoun vous ("you") is used for formal address of individuals (as well as plural addresses familiar or otherwise), while the singular pronoun tu (also "you," a relative of Middle English thou) is reserved for use among intimate friends. A person who uses tu to address his or her elders, for example, is committing a breach of etiquette. The French verb tutoyer - literally "to address with the pronoun tu" - was borrowed into English in the late 17th century to refer to this concept. The English "tutoyer" is still used in reference to people speaking French (as English does not discriminate between intimate and formal address in its pronouns), but it can also apply to casual address among English-speakers.

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In my world...

I think social media has reduced us all to tutoyering one another. Seriously, how can we offer anybody that much respect after we've seen a hundred pictures of them smashed at some party? Just saying...