trumpet-major
111farmer — Used to a farmer on its own or as a prefix followed by the family name of the man concerned, especially in former times. In The Trumpet Major, by Thomas Hardy, Anne Garland regularly addresses her neighbour as ‘Farmer Derriman’. Unlike the… …
112first name, Miss — The younger daughters of a middle or upper class family are traditionally addressed in this way, ‘Miss’ + last name being the style used for the eldest daughter. But in general terms, ‘Miss’ + first name is used as a more respectful form of… …
113granny + last name — Elderly women are addressed by doctors and nurses in this way in Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori. The practice perhaps has a certain convenience in medical circumstances, avoiding the need to distinguish between ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’. It is also… …
114maidy — The diminutive of ‘maid’, which appears to have been used as a prefix in vocative groups. The Trumpet Major, by Thomas Hardy, has Benjamin Derriman calling a young woman ‘maidy Anne’. Another speaker later says to her: ‘Have ye heard about the …
115Miller — Used as a professional title in former times. Miller Loveday in Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet Major, is either addressed in full, with his surname, or as ‘miller’ …
116mistress — The earliest meaning of ‘mistress’ was a female master, a master ess. In its sense of ‘mistress of a household’ the word developed into modern ‘Mrs’, or ‘missis’ as it is pronounced. A short form of the word also gave rise to ‘Miss’. The… …
117monster — One would expect this vocative to be used only in great contempt, expressing the speaker’s views on someone’s inhuman behaviour. A multiple murderer might well be referred to as a monster, but in normal life such people rarely have to be… …
118neighbour — Formerly in common use to a person of either sex who lived in close proximity, often followed by a surname, ‘neighbour’ is no longer used vocatively. Shakespearean characters regularly call one another ‘neighbour’: honest neighbour, good… …
119Nephew — There may be some uncles and aunts who address nephews by this term in modern times, but such vocative usage is mostly obsolete. It occurs regularly in the literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however. Upper middle class… …
120nuncle — A vocative form of ‘uncle’, possibly arising from a false division of ‘an uncle’. It was in use by the sixteenth century and therefore available to Shakespeare, who used it in rather a special way. Only one character makes use of the term, the …
