Re: "Madam"/"Madame" Chair/man/person (was: Umlauts)

Christophe Grandsire scripsit:

> The opposite! I've always seen "Madame" (obviously from French, and
> stressed on the last syllable) for the female boss of a brothel,
> "Madam" (stressed on the first syllable, and easily becoming "Ma'am") for
> titles.
I think that "Madame" in English is solely a title.  The brothelkeeper is
a "madam", but she may be addressed as "Madame".  In addition, English
lacks plurals for its native titles Mister/Missus/Miz (though Miss has the
plural Misses), and in excruciatingly correct style uses Messieurs and
Mesdames, which latter sometimes gets semi-anglicized to Madames.
(Better than pronouncing it [mEz'deimz].)

The title is only "ma'am", never "madam", and it is the feminine equivalent of
"sir" when used without a name.  ("Sir" with a name is feminized "Dame".)

> And think about it: French is quite commonly associated with sex in the
> English language (French kiss, French letter, etc...),
Well, I can only think of the verb "to french", which is a bit old-fashioned,
but means to engage in French kissing.

We also have French leave, which means a hasty and unceremonious departure
(German uses this too), and French dressing, a hideous goop to be put on
innocent salad, consisting of mayonnaise adulterated with tomato sauce
(a notion which doubtless causes shudders in any French person who hears of it).
We've talked before about French toast, which is what happens to pain perdu
after it gets worked over by New Orleans cooks.

--
You let them out again, Old Man Willow!                 John Cowan
What you be a-thinking of?  You should not be waking!   jcowan@reutershealth.com
Eat earth!  Dig deep!  Drink water!  Go to sleep!       www.reutershealth.com
Bombadil is talking.                                    www.ccil.org/~cowan

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