In this study, the author seeks to demonstrate that Swedish is unique in its avoidance of the pronouns of address, extreme in its use of impersonal questions and circumscriptions, and that such language usage is directly related to the perceived relationship of social status, as explicitly and implicitly expressed by informants. The author also attempts to demonstrate that if a language, Swedish, possesses a universal feature--personal pronouns of address--and if the speech community systematically avoids this feature under specific situations, then this language usage is indicative of cultural-political conditions in that social structure, in this case the dichotomy between social class stratification and Social Democratic idealogy. Examples of ways to avoid pronoun use in the question "What do you want?" are provided, and remarks on the data solicited from informants are included. (Author/VM)