# Thou, Thine, Thy, What does it mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thou-thine-thy-what-does-it-mean/740637>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 16, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thou-thine-thy-what-does-it-mean/740637 "2015-12-16T22:12:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thou-thine-thy-what-does-it-mean/740637/21 "2015-12-17T16:20:41Z")

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As used in the King James Version of the Bible:

Thou – second person singular, nominative  
Thee – second person singular, objective  
Ye – second person plural, nominative  
You – second person plural, objective

This is MY theory; it is MINE.  
That is THY theory; it is THINE.

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thou-thine-thy-what-does-it-mean/740637/22 "2015-12-17T18:06:18Z")

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> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#):
>
> \*Catholics, of course, don’t cotton to that whole “God is my Buddy” thing and don’t even address Him directly most of the time, channelling their prayers to various saints who might actually be His buddy and could put in a word for them.

I would say it the other way around, that non-Catholic Christians don’t as a rule ask the saints to intercede for them. In the Mass, every prayer is directed as God, and it includes the Our Father since Christ told us to pray that way. Occasionally a Hail Mary will be added on a Marian feast day, and the litany of saints is included on Big days like the Easter Vigil. In addition to that, and not instead of that, folks do pray for intercession from Mary and the other saints.

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**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thou-thine-thy-what-does-it-mean/740637/23 "2015-12-17T21:18:41Z")

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> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#):
>
> This is about the only place I’ve encountered “thou” other than Shakespeare and the Bible–in books that feature dialogue by Quakers, such as _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_.
> 
> I’ve always thought it odd, that the Quakers had the same _idea_ as everybody else–get rid of the distinction between _you_ and _thou_–but they went about it backwards, addressing everybody as _thou_ while the rest of the world was addressing everybody as _you_.
> 
> As a result, Quaker dialogue today sounds stilted and formal, whereas the intention was exactly the opposite.

I suppose they couldn’t have foreseen, the way the language would go; and from quite early on, Quakers became invested in their “thou / thee, etc.”, practice – a distinguishing thing.

I’ve always treasured the picture – possibly apocryphal – of William Penn meeting with King Charles II, for negotiation regarding settling parts of North America. For religio-political reasons, Charles had been hostile to Quakerism, and had thus had Penn to endure quite lengthy spells of imprisonment; but this wasn’t a “personal” thing. Penn – big on “no ostentatious respect for fellow-humans, all of us sinners” – insisted on continuing to wear his hat in the King’s presence, and addressing him as “friend Charles”, and – throughout – “thou”. Charles (in matters personal, a pretty laid-back monarch) just found Penn’s attitudinising comical, and let it all go by.

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