49010
While browsing Youtube, I came across a comment which said the following:

> はじめしゃしょーを思い出した人は返信せよ

My question is about the ending. I understand that せよ is an imperative form of
する just like しろ. However, I was wondering what difference, if any, this makes
to the meaning of the phrase?

I found an explanation on another forum saying that せよ is more literary-
sounding, and is used in exams. However, I wouldn't have thought that a
Youtube commenter would use particularly formal language, so I wonder if
there's more to it than that.

Apologies if I've made any mistakes in how I asked the question, this is my
first time posting!
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T21:46:25.383
48996
2017-07-04T04:50:55.663
22689
question
imperatives
しろ vs. せよ imperative forms
As you said せよ and しろ are both imperative forms for する. The first one is
historically older. Therefore せよ sounds more formal than しろ. As you mentioned
せよ is often found in exam questions.

The one who commented probably wanted to sound like "an exam question" for the
fun. I don't think there is more to it.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-04T01:42:59.413
49009
2017-07-04T01:42:59.413
4216
48996
answer
[せよ is the imperative form of the verb す](http://www.hello-
school.net/haroajapa006005.html), which is an archaic verb meaning する in
modern Japanese. This archaic imperative is still found in modern Japanese,
typically in [examinations at high school and
university](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3981/5010). It generally
looks highly stiff, blunt and authoritative.

In this case, however, this せよ is used more or less jokingly, to make this
message look as if it were a military telegraph in the mid-20th century, or a
message from a boss in a spy movie (e.g., "～を抹殺せよ. This message will self-
destruct in five seconds."). Plainly saying 返信しろ would have been too rude, but
返信せよ would sound like the listeners were given a critical "mission", which
might make them excited.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-04T01:49:28.320
49010
2017-07-04T04:50:55.663
2017-07-04T04:50:55.663
5010
5010
48996
answer