Sprechen sie du?

By Andreas Kluth

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, January/February 2013

About 20 years ago, somewhere in the Tyrol, I played a round of golf with my father and a couple who are old family friends, in both senses of the word. As sport, it was not a memorable event. But as a case study in awkwardness, it was instructive, for we were speaking German. The wife is Austrian, the husband German, and both are of the first post-war generation, whereas I was then in my 20s. Many years earlier, they had invited me to address them with the casual or intimate Du instead of the formal or respectful Sie. In the meantime, I had gone off to live in America. Now I was back for a visit. Would they remember their own invitation? If yes, they would be offended by my Sie. If no, they would be offended by my Du.