"Mr." vs. "Master"

[dativesingular]

I remember a few years ago we had a post about the different connotations surrounding the titles "Miss" and "Ms." in our respective countries.

Someone over here in that wedding planning community I'm in brought up how in the UK, boys are often given the title Master. I remember seeing it on the other half's debit card and bank statements when I

Comments

[lostinarden]

In the US, the only time I've ever encountered "Master" was when my great aunt would send my brother and male cousin cards/correspondence when they were kids/teens. I can't recall every seeing it in any other context or in the UK.

In regards to the Ms./Miss deal, as a married woman in the UK who chose to keep my surname and go by Ms. I initially found myself surprised that people would assume I was divorced. I'm still surpised that women keeping their surnames isn't as common here as it is in the US.

[bopeepsheep]

I see it regularly in the UK - my five year old's bank and CTF statements come addressed to me, "on behalf of Master T...", for instance. It's a valid drop-down choice on a lot of websites here, too.

[lostinarden]

Ah, ok. I don't really have any dealings with children where I'd come across it and just haven't noticed the menu option.

[bopeepsheep]

Yeah, I was surprised it still existed when I first started doing official paperwork and the like for him, but after 5 years I'm not at all surprised. If you aren't doing that sort of thing there's really no reason you'd come across it often.

[imluxionverdin]

It's used a lot on the US Sitcom "The Fresh Prince". The butler commonly refers to the children (who play 16 year olds I think, right up to about 18 over the course of the show?) as "young master ...". However he does so in a sort of semi-jokular semi-serious way.

I think it's considered old-fashioned.

But I live in the UK and I didn't realise it was still used for sending letterse to children by banks (see earlier post).

It's another example where there's an assymetry in the language. You don't refer to young girls as 'mistress'.

Okay, 'mistress' now means other things, but there's no corresponding word for 'master' to refer to girls.

[arctic_orange]

Isn't "Miss" short for Mistress?

[ianracey]

Both Miss and Mrs are short for Mistress, and Mister is short for Master.

Probably a mildly interesting story as to how each became assigned to different ages/statuses despite being the same thing.

[rethought]

I was taught to use it as a child when addressing things directly to younger boys. Never really thought about it before...

[aggybird]

In the US, I've heard young kids in the South referred to as "Young Sir" or "Young Miss." Never "Master," though.

[undyingking]

Master for boys is dreadfully old-fashioned and stuffy-sounding. I could easily believe that banks are the only people who still use it, and that only because their databases are sufficiently clunky as to require some sort of title for everyone.

[dativesingular]

It sounds strange to me too--it also seems REALLY RANDOM that NatWest still uses it.

[peterb]

The database / client management system at work requires a title for everyone. Pre-birth, they get Baby (forename) (surname)" and then Master (fn) (sn) or Miss. I think they have to be manually altered to Mr for the boys at around 18.

[undyingking]

I love Baby X Y, makes them sounds like a child star from the early talkies era.