Prithee the addressee, as in "if it please you," "prithee" accompanies a request which addresses itself to the threat of being answered in the negative, as though the request were against the addressee's wishes. Stated otherwise, the word "please" suggests that the person being addressed is willing to comply with the request, whereas the word "prithee" suggests that he or she is not willing. This switch from stating the speaker's contrary desire to stating the speaker's wish not to impose signaled a cultural shift in the English-speaking world in which politeness became stated negatively rather than positively. Wider repercussions are observable
Ancient veena Ancient veena The ancient veena is an early Indian arched harp, not to be confused with the modern Indian veena which is a type of lute. The instrument is attested on a gold coin of the Gupta Empire from the mid-300s CE. The Sanskrit word "veena" (वीणा "vīṇā") which is attested already in the Rigveda has designated in the course of Indian history a variety of instruments of various types, as it is a generic term for all kinds of string instruments, just as the Tamil word "yazh" (யாழ் "yaaḻ"). In the last centuries and today the instruments designated under