BE v AE – One and You 2014

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http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=118255



drei_lengua 
Hello everyone,

Which of the following two sentences is preferred in BE?

1. One should not walk on the grass.
2. You should not walk on the grass.

I am thinking that number 1 is BE and number 2 is AE. I prefer number 1 because it is much clearer and neutral. Number 2 sometimes sounds accusatory when the person hearing this sentence thinks that "you" refers to him or her rather than to any one person. 

What do you think of my comments in the preceding paragraphy? Agree/disagree. 

I look forward to your posts.

Drei





COLsass
Senior Member

Neither is formal AE in my opinion.

Walking on the grass is strictly prohibited/forbidden 
is what I'd expect to see. Passive voice often is preferred in English.

I think you think "one" is correct because we Americans associate the Brits with formal speaking. But then again, maybe our appraisal is correct. 



One would never see it in written English, and one would be surprised to hear it in Britain. One could stay in London from one end of the year to the next and never hear one used in this way. People use we or you or I.




maxiogee

This reminds me of an (probably) apocryphal story of a notice at a country club. There was a picture-perfect lawn outside the clubroom window and a notice on the lawn stated "Gentlemen will not, and others must not, walk on the grass."




roxcyn
Senior Member

Generally signs are written like:

"Prohibited to walk on the grass" 
"It's prohibited to walk on the grass"

What is BE? British English? 

If you are talking about an essay (written paper) the poster should use:

One should not walk on the grass (Generally profs like you to use the third person "one" or plural "they", but not "I" or "you". It will depend on the essay requirements though.)

Normally people say something like:
You shouldn't walk on the grass. 
Or "It's prohibited for you to walk on the grass"
Or "It's prohibited to walk on the grass"

etc

I hope that helps.

Scott




panjandrum
Senior Member

The sign in British English (BE) is normally:
(PLEASE) KEEP OFF THE GRASS
... capitals deliberate, please optional

As one who uses one from time to time (it's an age thing, no doubt), I am familiar with the glazed look that appears when one uses one in a context in which it would not be considered normal usage.





LV4-26
Senior Member

In the place where I stayed in England I heard (I'm not speaking about signs here) :
You're not supposed to walk on the grass
more often than
You shouldn't walk on the grass

I never heard or read
One shouldn't nor One isn't supposed to...

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them....well, I have others." (Groucho Marx).




drei_lengua
Senior Member

Hello everyone,

Thanks for such great posts. I do have a specific goal with this thread. I am trying to gather your thoughts and opinions on the use of "one" instead of "you" in order to prevent insulting someone. For example, if I am talking to someone and during the conversation I say "You should not eat so much food." he does not necessarily know whether the "You" refers to him or "one". I have had this happen a few times in which I had to clarify "No, not you, I meant anyone." 

My point is that I advocate using "one" exclusively in these situations in order to avoid ambiguity and to avoid insulting someone when they think I am talking about them rather than "one". However, "one" sounds a little pretentious. In this case people might be insulted for using such pretentious language. This is clearly a catch-22.

Thoughts? I look forward to your replies.

Drei
Pleas




jdenson
Senior Member


Greetings all,
"One shouldn't eat so much" doesn't sound at all unusual (and certainly not pretentious) to me. In fact, I have friends who don't hesitate to correct me if I use "you" when "one" is called for. The meanings are different. When it's correct to say "one", why not say it? It seems to me that a lot of educated people spend a lot of time worrying about what the uneducated think about the language when they should be setting an example.
"No glasse renders a mans forme, or likenesse, so true as his speech."
-Ben Jonson




COLsass
Senior Member


If I'm at a restaurant eating and I notice my friend eating more than I think is necessary and then have the gall to say, "one shouldn't eat so much food," I'm kidding myself if I pretend it's not offensive or directed at him.

"One" statements ARE directed at the listener in spoken conversation and written documents. One just adds a flavor of "but I also prescribe this action for everyone not just you!" When really all you're saying is, at this moment, though, you're the jackpot winner of failure!

The thing is, it doesn't deal with the other person in some contexts. Let's say we're eating dinner and we're talking about John Doe and my friend mentions that John eats like a pig, I would say:

People really shouldn't eat that much, ya know?
You really shouldn't eat that much, ya know?
He shouldn't really eat that much, ya know?
One shouldn't eat that much, ya know?

But I AM still insulting John, it's just that he doesn't happen to be there. All prescriptive statements naturally inflict themselves upon another's life; it's just that sometimes that significant "other" isn't around.