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I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned the alternate theory that Usted is a borrowing from Arabic ustez. ADam --- Mermaid Productions <info@hidden.email> wrote: > > Could someone enlighten me on the etymology of > Spanish > 'Usted'? TIA. > > James > > It comes from the expression 'Vuestra Merced' (or an > older form > thereof), which means something along the lines of > "Your Honor" > or "your Grace". Hence the use of 3rd person verb > forms with it. > Must be an Iberian thing, as Portuguese and Catalan > also have > similar second-but-really-third person formal > pronouns with the > same origin (voc?and vost?. > > Thomas > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > To unsubscribe to this group, sell your soul to > Satan, do not pass go, do not collect $200. In other > words, you're stuck here now!! > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >