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Mr. Bean. Mr. T. Mr. Pibb. Mr. Mister. These four “misters” didn’t keep the produce section at the grocery store moist — they were indicative of men.
That’s right — men. A sister is not a mister and a brother is unlike any other. A female is referred to as a Ms., Miss or Mrs. That sounds needlessly confusing, doesn’t it? Today, we’ll stick to the much easier- to-understand “Mr.”
We get the manly prefix “Mr.” from the old term “Master.” In the Middle Ages, “Master” was a term of respect used for men with authority or expertise, like knights, craftsmen or guild leaders. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written example of “mister” came in 1642 to distinguish men of expertise from generic respectable men.
The reason for this split of master and mister comes from saying “master” quickly or carelessly. Gradually, “master” became “mister,” and the “master” term was reserved for more specific meanings, like teacher or owner. Most mussed the term because they couldn’t muster the effort to murmur “master.”
The origin of master comes from the Latin word “magister,” meaning teacher or master.
This term was adopted directly into Old English as “magister,” while in Anglo-Norman, it became “maistre” and “mastre.” From “magister,” we get the words magistrate and maestro, among others.
Today in the UK, a boy is referred to as “master” (often “young master”) until around 12, at which point he can be considered “mister.” Interestingly, in the U.S., we add a period after the abbreviated “Mr.” while in the UK, they prefer the dotless “Mr” title.
The abbreviation “Messrs.” comes from the plural form of the French “Monsieur.” This term refers to multiple men, especially in business contexts.
Modern applications of the term master can still be found.
My son has a green belt from Master Yoo’s World-Class Taekwondo. An artist can produce a masterpiece. A person can serve as a headmaster, a postmaster or a taskmaster.
A ringmaster, the person who introduced a performer into the circus ring, was referred to as the “master of ceremonies.” This was shortened to “MC” or “emcee.” Be careful not to see “Mr.” and say (aloud or in your head) “myrrh.” To this day, most people do not know what myrrh is, nor do I care for its disturbing, vowelless spelling.
Next time, I’ll tread into the murky mess of “Miss,” “Mrs.” and “Ms.,” but until then, may you masterfully use the term “mister.”
—Curtis Honeycutt is a syndicated humor columnist. He is the author of Good Grammar is the Life of the Party.
