Quote:
Originally Posted by neilmarr
I'm over sixty, too. Still, whenever anyone -- of any age -- addresses me as 'Mr', I look over my shoulder, half-expecting to find my dad or granddad standing there. I've never been confortable with 'Mr'. And I detest 'sir'. Somehow, though, in France where I've lived for the past twenty-five years, 'monsiere' (when not followed by a surname, no capital, general and used almost informally) is fine. Neil
|
maybe because "monsieur" has only one form, whether you are married or not, young or old. however, it does tend to have a more "serious" or traditional connotation. so depending on the person it can feel very strange. once someone called my boyfriend "monsieur" et he twitched a bit. and the other day i was with a (deeply and authentically punkrock) friend and someone called him monsieur, and he twitched even more. in shops most people call me "mademoiselle" which i have no problem with. but from time to time there will be an 18 year-old at the counter who will call me "madame" and i admit i don't like that too much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm
Oh I can sympathise with that. There is a very small, select group who I will tolerate calling me by one of the standard contractions of my name, and that's only because they're family.
|
i'm lucky, my name doesn't seem to have any sort of contracted form.