"Is 'Master' the right term of address for an unmarried male?" The King of Comedy is over in the corner of the Sun lab working on, I guess, a business letter.
"An unmarried male what?" I ask, because with the KoC it's good to clarify these things.
He squints at me. "Person."
"No, 'Master' has more to do with levels of formality. Like if I were your butler, I might address you as Master." I resist the temptation to launch into a lecture on Japanese honorifics. There's one itching to pop out.
"Yeah, but… Okay, if Bruce Wayne got married, then his butler would address him as 'Mister'?" The KoC runs with it.
Oh, yeah. Like Bruce Wayne would get married. He'd have to move to Massachusetts. I stifle my smirk and continue. "No. Men are addressed as 'Mister' regardless of their marital status. Whether anyone calls them 'Master' is a separate issue."
"Oh. Okay. But then what's the deal with 'Miss' and 'Mrs.'?"
We discuss, with situational examples. But really, san would be so much simpler.
177 words | April 20, 2005 08:38 PM | Ivory tower