Hi,
around 2000, IKEA also came to Austria. In the Austrian catalogs, customers were addressed informally using "du." I noticed this immediately because in the German catalogs, only the formal "Sie" was used. For several years, I subscribed to both catalogs and kept noticing the difference. Today, I was surprised to see that Germans are now also addressed informally. A brief online search showed that only the French still receive formal address, or more precisely, are addressed with "vous." Can anyone tell me when the switch to informal address happened in the German catalog?
This question has a linguistic background and is aimed at collectors of IKEA catalogs. Unfortunately, I disposed of all my old copies. Apparently, that’s something you should never do.
Thanks in advance.
Hosse
around 2000, IKEA also came to Austria. In the Austrian catalogs, customers were addressed informally using "du." I noticed this immediately because in the German catalogs, only the formal "Sie" was used. For several years, I subscribed to both catalogs and kept noticing the difference. Today, I was surprised to see that Germans are now also addressed informally. A brief online search showed that only the French still receive formal address, or more precisely, are addressed with "vous." Can anyone tell me when the switch to informal address happened in the German catalog?
This question has a linguistic background and is aimed at collectors of IKEA catalogs. Unfortunately, I disposed of all my old copies. Apparently, that’s something you should never do.
Thanks in advance.
Hosse
I
IKEA-Experte19 Jun 2015 23:43Hello, from the 2005 catalog onwards.
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