In my head, it kind of compares to the use of tu vs. vous in French (or the similar versions in other Romance Languages), though it doesn't translate quite the same. I wish English had the same type of oral social distinctions that other languages often do. It's just so much easier to determine a person's sense of self by how they speak, and while we have some distinction (in the form of different accents or like the example you gave with the use of contractions), it's just not the same.
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In my head, it kind of compares to the use of tu vs. vous in French (or the similar versions in other Romance Languages), though it doesn't translate quite the same. I wish English had the same type of oral social distinctions that other languages often do. It's just so much easier to determine a person's sense of self by how they speak, and while we have some distinction (in the form of different accents or like the example you gave with the use of contractions), it's just not the same.