| 释义 |
Mr
[Orig. an abbreviation of master.]
†1. In the 16th and 17th c. used for master in any of the applications of the word. Obs.
1538Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 139 My Lordes Letteres Syngnyfing to my Mr. he hath apoyncted the Abbot of Kenelworth for his yerlie pencion c. li. 1575Gamm. Gurton (title-p.) Made by Mr. S. Mr. of Art. 15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1324 But tell mee, art thou put away nowe for whippinge thy yonge Mr? 1617Court-bk. Merch.-Taylors' Comp. VI. 633 in Webster's Wks. (Rtldg.) p. ix. note, John Webster made free by Henry Clinckard his Mr. 1631W. Foster Hoplocrismaspongus 2, I am a Mr. of Arts in both Vniversities. 1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 133 Bare the Roots and cut off a Mr Root or two from the Tree. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 71 All Mr Gunners should be able to draw. 1674R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physic 141, I refused the Title of Mr. of Arts.
2. a. As a prefixed title. Now pronounced |ˈmɪstə(r)|, or with entire absence of stress |mɪstə(r), mstə(r)|. The want of a plural form is supplied by Messrs., messieurs 2.
Until the latter half of the 17th c. the title was often written in the full form master; but there is reason for believing that from the 16th c. it was, at least in rapid or careless speech, treated proclitically, with consequent alteration of the vowel of the first syllable. (See mister n.2 1, quot. 1551.) Eventually the word came to have the weakened pronunciation whenever it was used as a prefixed title, and it became customary to employ the abbreviated spelling always for this use, and for this only. Hence at the beginning of the 18th c. master and Mr. were already regarded as distinct words. Cf. mister n.2, which is merely an occasional (chiefly jocular) rendering of the pronunciation of the word of which ‘Mr.’ is the accepted spelling.
The early history of the application of Mr. is identical with that of the use of its fuller form: see master n. 21. From the 17th c. it has been the customary ceremonious prefix to the name of any man below the rank of knight and above some humble but undefined level of social status, except where usage requires the substitution of some honorific title, such, for instance, as those denoting military and naval rank. As with other titles of courtesy, the inferior limit for its application has been continually lowered; at the present day any man however low in station would be styled ‘Mr.’ on certain occasions, e.g. in the address of a letter. Modern custom forbids the use of the prefix when Esquire is appended to the name, and it is now omitted after ‘The Hon.’ and ‘The Rev.’ (though some still write ‘the Rev. Mr. A.’ when the Christian name happens to be unknown); but in other than ceremonious use ‘Mr.’ is substituted for these titles.
The use of Mr. before a prefixed title of office is nearly obsolete. The Judges of the Supreme Court are still styled ‘Mr. Justice A.’; the designations ‘Mr. Baron A.’, ‘Mr. Serjeant B.’, belonged to dignities now abolished. In municipal use we still occasionally read of ‘Mr. Alderman A.’, ‘Mr. Deputy B.’, ‘Mr. Councillor C.’.
Before an official title not followed by the name, the prefix Mr. is still common, as in ‘Mr. Chairman’, ‘Mr. Editor’, ‘Mr. President’, ‘Mr. Mayor’. These are now used only vocatively; ‘Mr. Speaker’ is used also in the 3rd person.
1447–8J. Shillingford Lett. (Camden) 89 Maister John Waryn Mr William Filham. c1524More in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 294 All the lettres of Mr. Secretary sent unto your Grace. 1553Respublica i. iii. 61 (Brandl) Nowe, Mr Insolence, to your ghostelye purpose. 1557in Shropsh. Parish Documents (1903) 58 Item Re'd of Mr. Vicar for olde shingle vid. 15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1211 Let mee heare Mr. Shakspear's veyne. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iii. 74 Good euen good Mr what ye cal't. 1662Tryal Sir H. Vane 84 He further told Mr. Sheriff, he was ready: but the Sheriff said, he was not. 1680Ld. Russell in Parl. Debates 1 Mr. Speaker, Sir, seeing by Gods Providence [etc.]. 1706Hearne Collect. 13 Mar. (O.H.S.) I. 203 Mr. Poley, Esqr., Member of Parliament. 1841R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 154 Both the chief and second mates are always addressed by their surnames, with Mr. prefixed. 1844Owen in Hunterian Lect. (1846) II. 1 Mr. President and Gentlemen. 1865Even. Standard 10 Mar., At the meeting to-day Mr. Vice Chancellor, the rev. the Master of St. Peter's, presided. 1886Tupper Autobiog. 58 ‘What have I done, Mr. Dean?..’ ‘Why, sir, the porter states that this is the fifth time you have not come into college until past twelve o'clock.’
b. jocularly.
1655Walton Angler x. (1661) 176 If Mr. Pike be there, then the little Fish will skip out of the water. 1757W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. 45 With a handsome Salary for Mr. Operator. 1895J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 161 There..stood Mr. and Mrs. Pig and the entire Pig family.
c. Prefixed to a foreign name. Now rare, the usual practice being to employ Monsieur (M.), Herr, Signor, or the like.
In French Mr. is used (beside M.) as an abbreviation of Monsieur. It may possibly be so intended in the Shakes. quot. below, where modern editors print Monsieur.
1601Shakes. All's Well v. ii. 1 Good Mr Lauetch giue my Lord Lafew this letter. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Ep. ii. i. 158 note, Mr. Sanadon thinks [etc.]. 1778Fletcher Lett. Wks. 1795 VII. 223 Mr. Tronchin the physician of the Duke of Orleans was sent for to attend Voltaire. 1817Coleridge Satyrane's Lett. iii, W― and myself accompanied Mr. Klopstock to the house of his brother, the poet.
d. One who is entitled to be addressed as ‘Mr.’; the word ‘Mr.’ as a title (in correspondence).
a1817Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) III. iii. 55 ‘I have let my house to Admiral Croft,’ would sound extremely well; very much better than to any mere Mr.―; a Mr. (save, perhaps, some half dozen in the nation,) always needs a note of explanation. 1857Geo. Eliot Let. 2 June (1954) II. 337 Mr. Eliot..may be a relation of Mr. Liggins's or some other ‘Mr.’ who knows Coton stories. 1882W. Pater Let. 4 Nov. (1970) 43 My dear Sharp, (I think we have known each other long enough to drop the ‘Mr.’). 1915R. Fry Let. 26 Aug. (1972) II. 389 Dear Waley (May we drop the Mr).
e. Used with following adj. or n. to denote an exemplar, a type, or a victor in a contest; esp. Mr. Big, the head of an organization of criminals; also, any important man; Mr. Charley, Charlie (see Charley, Charlie 7); Mr. Clean, an honourable or incorruptible politician; Mr. Fix (see quot. 1950); Mr. Fixit, one who does repairs or odd jobs; one skilled at managing difficult problems or situations; a ‘trouble-shooter’; Mr. Right, a man who would make the ideal husband; a ‘Prince Charming’.
See 1958 Amer. Speech XXXIII. ii. ii. 84–87.
1814H. Brougham Let. June in T. Creevey Creevey Papers (1903) I. ix. 194, I was finally decided in favour of publishing to-day by the apprehension of Alexr., &c., coming in a day or two, and taking off the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Bull. 1913C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. i. ii. 28 Because he had been slow in choosing..he had been called Mr. Particular. 1922Joyce Ulysses 362 Till Mr Right comes along then meet once in a blue moon. 1925R. Lardner in Liberty 9 May 5 (title) Mr. and Mrs. Fix-It. 1937E. H. Sutherland Professional Thief v. 129 Since most of the cases of professional thieves in the stores are taken care of by Mr. Fix, it is evident that the store detectives must get an end. 1940G. Marx Let. 10 Oct. (1967) 26, I may motor east..to see your ‘Mr. Big’. 1950H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 139/1 Mister fix, a go-between, especially one who shuttles between the underworld and the overworld, handling bribes, ransom payments, etc. 1951J. Cannan And All I Learned vi. 76 Stevens offered her the last cake on a plate... Mildred laughed and replied, ‘What about Mr Manners?’ but took the cake. 1952M. Laski Village i. 24 In the ordinary way you'd expect someone like Miss Margaret to stay at home and go to tennis-parties and things until Mr. Right came along and she could make a home of her own. 1953R. Chandler Long Good-Bye xxxii. 200 He was Mr. Big, the winner. 1959A. W. Sherring Tip Off iii. 28 Hardly the kind of district one would expect to find Mr. Big of London's underworld. 1962E. Cleaver in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 18/1 To..crown him..Mister..Universe. 1967P. E. H. Durston Mortissimo (1968) xii. 100 He's got very little decent for sale. More of what the Americans call a ‘Mr. Fixit’. Mends things. 1968‘J. Le Carré’ Small Town in Germany v. 71 Do you a girl as well, would he? Mister Fixit, is that it? 1969C. Booker Neophiliacs vii. 179 Hints of the existence of a powerful ‘Mr. Big’. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 88 The whole point of a woman's existence is to be exploited by Mr Right. 1970Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 20 Dec. 35/3 Still an entrepreneur and a Mr Fix-it, Levis..died from cirrhosis of the liver. 1972Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 15/1 Peter M. Flanigan..became an assistant to the President and acquired a reputation as ‘Richard Nixon's ‘Mr. Fixit’ when it comes to powerful business interests’. 1973J. Mann Only Security x. 132 Sylvester..could have modelled as a Mr Average. 1973Times 21 Nov. 8/4 Mr Elliot Richardson, who resigned as Attorney General..is Mr Clean to many Republicans. 1974E. McGirr Murderous Journey 59, I..asked if I could go through Siskin's papers... He'd been a methodical man... It was more or less the picture of Mr. America. 1974Guardian 28 Jan. 2/5 Mr Shultz himself had never been touched by Watergate... His reputation as a ‘Mr Clean’..has led him..to voice a growing sense of unease. 1974Observer 17 Feb. 5/5 Smalls said he had not seen a ‘Police 5’ TV programme about the Wembley raid, but agreed that Turner's photograph was ‘splashed in the papers’, accompanied by the title of ‘Mr Big’.
Hence Mr. v., trans. to address as ‘Mr.’; Mr.-ship, the position of being styled ‘Mr.’
1747H. Walpole Let. to Mann 26 June, Archer and Rolle have only changed their Mr.-ships for Lordships. 1850Smedley Frank Fairleigh vi, I tell you what it is, Oaklands (we don't Mr. each other here), you are a right good fellow.
▸ Mr Mom n.after the title of the U.S. film Mr. Mom (1983), in which the main character loses his job and becomes a homemaker orig. U.S. a father (esp. one with no other job) who is the family member primarily responsible for childcare and housekeeping; cf. house-husband n. at house n.1 Compounds 5.
1984N.Y. Times 14 Apr. 27/2 ‘I'm now *Mr. Mom,’ said James M. Kern, a 41-year-old former supervisor with four children. His wife now brings home the paycheck. 1996B. B. Youngs Gifts of Heart xviii. 201, I was head of the household... My husband took on the ‘Mr. Mom’ role, a position he cherished. 2001N.Y. Times 17 June ix. 8/2 Whether I'm perceived as the lucky father of a babe magnet or a domesticated Mr. Mom inviting a pinch on the cheek, I've discovered that there's more than one way to have an identity crisis as a single parent. |