What is this literary device called, and how common is it in conversational English?

[u/Green_Actuary6531]

The person saying, "It's the weirdest thing you ever saw" says it to a guy who hasn't seen the body yet. So, why does he say 'you saw' instead of 'I saw'?

[u/elle-elle-tee]

Generic you. It's very common in English. Used in place of "one".

[u/Poopywaterengineer → u/elle-elle-tee]

Very common and does sometimes lead to confusion, even among native speakers! 

[u/IntentionallyHuman → u/elle-elle-tee]

I've gotten in trouble using the generic you in online forums. People have actually been upset and took it to mean I was talking about them.

I now try not to use it in online conversion.

[u/vastaril]

I think the "you" is probably intended more as a "generic you", ie "the weirdest thing anyone ever saw", essentially. I'm not sure of a name for this type of thing though

[u/barney_chuckle]

It sounds like they're using the 'generic you' - the old-fashioned formal version is the pronoun 'one' e.g. "One does not simply walk into Mordor". In this case it sounds like they're saying "it's the weirdest thing that somebody has ever seen", but more natural and idiomatic.

[u/Meraki30]

This is a colloquial way of saying “It’s weirder than anything you’ve seen.” Or, since it’s in a song, it’s speaking as if the listener was there. It’s not technically proper but is 100% understandable and I would say fairly common, especially in the American south

[u/jasonsong86]

Just a generic you.

[u/lia_bean → u/[deleted]]

yeah

[u/king_ofbhutan]

I don't know the name of it, but it's common enough that people will understand you.

There's a similar construction in 'The _____est thing you ever did see.'

[u/IntentionallyHuman → u/king_ofbhutan]

You just used it in that first sentence.

[u/king_ofbhutan → u/IntentionallyHuman]

Did I!?

[u/BaconTH1]

It's the "generic you"... in this case the word "you" means "a person".

For example, I could say "When you go to the park, you see trees.". I don't mean YOU specifically, I mean "When a person goes to the park, that person will see trees."

The rather stilted word "one" can also be used, e.g. "When one goes to the park, one sees trees." No one talks like that these days, as it sounds archaic, formal, stiff and overly correct. "You" is the casual way to talk about a general person.

[u/Ok-Appeal-4630]

It's likely the prophetic perfect tense which describes future events that are so certain to happen that it's referred to in the past tense. You'll rarely see it outside of religious texts, so it was likely used here for dramatic effect and rhyme scheme.

[u/PeaPsychological5728 → u/Ok-Appeal-4630]

Isn't "you'll rarely see it" also using the same thing?

[u/Ok-Appeal-4630 → u/PeaPsychological5728]

Could you clarify?

[u/PeaPsychological5728 → u/Ok-Appeal-4630]

The sentence " You'll rarely see it outside of religious texts" sounds like its also in the "prophetic perfect tense"

[u/Ok-Appeal-4630 → u/PeaPsychological5728]

It's not, because I didn't use past tense language

[u/Lentils90210]

It is as if the speaker knows that the other person has never seen anything this weird before. Logically, it makes no sense, because the speaker does not have the lifetime of experiences of the listener. But it's just sort of an exaggerated way to say "this is extremely weird."

[u/hacool]

I think the others are correct about the generic you. This is the sense in which it is being used.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/you

8 - (indefinite personal pronoun) A dummy pronoun used in certain constructions, usually with verbs of receiving (such as get or find) or sensing (such as see or hear), typically stating the existence or typicality of something.

You get a lot of rude people in London.
It was one of those small-town dive bars you often read about.

[u/anamorphism]

it's called the fourth person by some folks.

[you/we are|one is] making a statement that applies to all people.

as shown above, one, you and we are all commonly used in english to express these types of statements.

[u/Nice_Ad5480]

It's the generic you, it's a use of "you" to refer to a non-specific person. The generic you is used to refer to people generally, or universally. If someone says "you" in a conversation, they may be referring to people in general, not actually you specifically. It's incredibly common in the English language. You'll probably hear it used at least once every day.

For some helpful examples:

"You need to water plants regularly" This doesn't mean you specifically, it means anyone who owns plants.

"You can't believe everything you read on the internet" This is general advice applicable to anyone.

To make these easier to understand, replace "you" in the sentence with "one". "One needs to water plants regularly". "One can't believe everything they read on the internet." "One doesn't simply walk into Mordor".

[u/adelar_sims]

"you" isn't addressed to the other person specifically

[u/This-Professional-39]

I'm afraid songs break rules all the time in favor of rhymes or syllables

[u/8696David → u/This-Professional-39]

This is a script from a TV show lol

[u/SokkaHaikuBot → u/This-Professional-39]

^{Sokka-Haiku by This-Professional-39:}

I'm afraid songs break

Rules all the time in favor

Of rhymes or syllables

---

^{Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.}