Friday, September 28, 2007
No, sir, not "mistress"
"Mistress M..." one of my students said to me one day.
"No, not 'Mistress,' 'Misses,' " I corrected.
Seeing the opportunity for a teachable moment, I had the teen lad go look up what mistress meant. Unfortunately for me, the vast majority of dictionaries in our room are children's dictionaries.
"So, it's like the person who is in charge of a household?"
I took the children's dictionary from him. Shoot. I forgot that meaning. No, too tame.
"Go look in the ADULT dictionary," I instructed him. I figured he ought to know what the connotation was and what a faux pas the statement could be. After all, the next Mrs. might not be so understanding.
He looked. His eyes widened, "OHHHH!!!" And then "So it's like a" [mouths quietly] "prostitute?"
Sort of. Hm... how could I explain it? "Yes, only usually just one man. And not necessarily paid."
(Ah... had the principal walked in at that moment...)
I found out later his confusion was in the abbreviation. If we abbreviate "Mrs" then the word MUST have an "r" in it somewhere, right? Ergo, "mistress."
Hm... I can see where he's coming from. I've never really understood where the R came from either.
"No, not 'Mistress,' 'Misses,' " I corrected.
Seeing the opportunity for a teachable moment, I had the teen lad go look up what mistress meant. Unfortunately for me, the vast majority of dictionaries in our room are children's dictionaries.
"So, it's like the person who is in charge of a household?"
I took the children's dictionary from him. Shoot. I forgot that meaning. No, too tame.
"Go look in the ADULT dictionary," I instructed him. I figured he ought to know what the connotation was and what a faux pas the statement could be. After all, the next Mrs. might not be so understanding.
He looked. His eyes widened, "OHHHH!!!" And then "So it's like a" [mouths quietly] "prostitute?"
Sort of. Hm... how could I explain it? "Yes, only usually just one man. And not necessarily paid."
(Ah... had the principal walked in at that moment...)
I found out later his confusion was in the abbreviation. If we abbreviate "Mrs" then the word MUST have an "r" in it somewhere, right? Ergo, "mistress."
Hm... I can see where he's coming from. I've never really understood where the R came from either.
Labels: L's Job
Comments:
Actually, lo back in the distant past (1600s?) Mistress was the correct title, and referred to any adult female, married or no, that did not have a higher title.
Mistress was the feminized version of Mister, which was borrowed from the French Monsieur, and also carried the meaning it has today of head of household.
Mrs. began to be used as the contraction in the 1700s, and eventually, the pronunciation was contracted as well to "missus."
Interestingly enough, there is no longer a non-contracted form for this word. Miss is in the dictionary, but "missus" or "misses" is not.
More than you wanted to know, no?
Mistress was the feminized version of Mister, which was borrowed from the French Monsieur, and also carried the meaning it has today of head of household.
Mrs. began to be used as the contraction in the 1700s, and eventually, the pronunciation was contracted as well to "missus."
Interestingly enough, there is no longer a non-contracted form for this word. Miss is in the dictionary, but "missus" or "misses" is not.
More than you wanted to know, no?
# posted by 
: 9/30/2007 12:44 PM
: 9/30/2007 12:44 PM
Actually, no, EXACTLY what I wanted to know!!!! Thanks so much, Sarah!!!
Did you already know this, or did you look it up?
Did you already know this, or did you look it up?
A little of both. I knew the linguistic facts, but not the dates. Wiki helped with that.
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# posted by : 10/05/2007 8:15 AM
: 10/05/2007 8:15 AM