Re: How and why did English lose "thou"

ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) wrote or quoted:

- Marriage started to look different, and Puritan ideas were
 not as big a deal anymore. So, people stopped using "thou"
 with their spouses.

  What were these "puritan ideas"? Well, back in the 16th and
  17th centuries, the idea that women were lower than men was
  just part of the puritan mindset. So, women would use the
  formal plural form when talking to their husbands, while men
  would just use the regular singular form with their wives.