We get why ‘Mister’ has an ‘r’ in it.
But why, oh why, does ‘Missus’ have an ‘r’? Where did it come from? Why do we need it? Why would an abbreviation add a letter that isn’t in the word? It’s troubling.
However, now the kind folk over at Mental Floss have put an end to the turmoil and cleared up the confusion.
Apparently, ‘Mrs.’, doesn’t actually stand for ‘Missus’ at all… it stands for ‘Mistress’.
The site explains: “Originally, Mrs. was an abbreviation for mistress, the female counterpart of master.
“The word mistress had a more general meaning of a woman who is in charge of something.
“The abbreviated form was used most frequently as a title for a married woman.”
Eventually, the pronunciation became ‘r’less, with ‘missus’ considered the most acceptable way to pronounce it.
By the end of the 18th century, the title Mrs. no longer represented a Mistress, in fact a mistress was explicitly opposite to a married woman. Ahem.
Interestingly, the word Mr. was pronounced ‘Master’ originally but gradually changed to the ‘mister’ of today.
We love this little nugget – (as you can tell, we’re GREAT fun at parties.)
