mister
“先生”是一种常规的礼貌称谓,用于男性的基督教名字之前,15世纪中期,是 master(名词)的无重音变体,但没有它的含义。当不知道男子姓名时使用的称呼方式(常带有粗鲁的意味),始于1760年。
The disappearance of master and mister, and the restricted and obsolescent use of sir, as an unaccompanied term of address, and the like facts with regard to mistress, Mrs., and madam, tend to deprive the English language of polite terms of address to strangers. Sir and madam or ma'am as direct terms of address are old-fashioned and obsolescent in ordinary speech, and mister and lady in this use are confined almost entirely to the lower classes. [Century Dictionary, 1895]
“master”和“mister”的消失,以及“sir”作为一个独立的称呼方式的使用受到限制和过时,以及“mistress”、“Mrs.”和“madam”等事实,倾向于剥夺英语中对陌生人的礼貌称呼。在普通语言中,“Sir”和“madam”或“ma'am”作为直接的称呼方式已经过时,而在这种用法中,“mister”和“lady”几乎完全局限于下层阶级。[世纪词典,1895]
该词起源时间:15世纪中期