terminology - Term for the use of "you" to refer to "the hypothetical person in question"


My wife was discussing pudding consistency this morning and used a sentence along the lines of, "I only like the pudding you make". I blinked and asked if she really liked the pudding I make and she replied, "No, I mean the pudding you make, you know, like if I were to make some pudding". She was using the "you" in a sense of a hypothetical person, I guess, like saying, "That's what you do in a crisis" when commenting on a riot scene in the news. You're not using "you" to refer to the person you're speaking to, but rather a form of general humanity.


Anyhow, is there a term for such a usage such that you might be able to answer, "Oh, sorry, I was using 'you' in the [term] context, not referring to you specifically"?



Answer



This is (according to Wikipedia at least) known as "generic you".


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_you


In more formal English one might use "one" instead of a generic "you".


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