Re: [OT] why no undelete?

From: Paul Lutus (nospam_at_nosite.zzz)
Date: 10/06/03 

Date: Sun, 05 Oct 2003 23:30:11 -0700

Dances With Crows wrote:

< snip >

> (NB: Using "one" instead of "you" in these kinds of sentences is
> getting deprecated in English AFAICT.)

Not at all. It avoids an unintended focus of attention on the hearer. "One
might die tomorrow" certainly conveys something different than "You might
die tomorrow." The first is appropriately hypothetical. The second verges
on the actionable.

The hypothethical "one" usage still has a place and is not on the way out.
One need only look at the frequency of its use in current writing. Indeed,
how can one do without it? 

-- 
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com

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