Re: "Madam"/"Madame" Chair/man/person (was: Umlauts)
| From: | Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, October 30, 2003, 20:10 |
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En réponse à Mark J. Reed :
>To take this a bit further off-topic (sorry) - what's with the
><Madam>/<Madame> spelling difference?
>
>I was taught that a "madam" (or several "madams") ran a whorehouse,
>while "Madame" (or several "Mesdames") was the title form. But it
>seems that "Madam" is used all the time in titles, including that
>of Madeleine Albright's book, _Madam_Secretary_.
>
>So what's the straight dope? :)
The opposite! I've always seen "Madame" (obviously from French, and
stressed on the last syllable) for the female boss of a brothel, and
"Madam" (stressed on the first syllable, and easily becoming "Ma'am") for
titles. I think you got your facts inversed somehow, or at least the person
who taught you that got their facts incorrectly.
And think about it: French is quite commonly associated with sex in the
English language (French kiss, French letter, etc...), so it makes more
sense to have "Madame" for the boss of a brothel :) . For once that English
is consistent in something :)) .
Christophe Grandsire.
http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.
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