Etymological lecture (WAS: Re: ANST - Titles)

[Margo Lynn Hablutzel]

My last word on the subject is that Stephan li Rous is correct.  When I am
discussing the period meaning of words, I think that someone who drawn a
tabloid-type (to use km's own words) meaning from the lecture has his or
her (since a person of the gentle gender chimed in) own problems on the
subject.  All I was trying to do was explain to a very nice gentleman who
made an erroneous statement that "wife" and "husband" could very properly
be used to describe a POSSLQ, of any relationship.  Marriage is not a
requirement.  His rank was irrelevant to the discussion.  But neither one
of them should continue to twitch if referred to as "Lady Wife" or "Lord
Husband." (C'mon -- where did you think the term "animal husbandry" came
from?  With the responses my lecture generated, I shudder to contemplate,
even in cartoons.)

If you're not interested in finding out how titles were properly used in
period, fine.  But don't imply things in my lecture that were not there
simply because you have your own problems with the titles in question.  As
I pointed out, we could go into a long discussion of why calling TRM "Your
Majesty" less appropriate than calling them "Your Grace" (as He himself
noted), or why Knights were not necessarily peers in period, but that would
cause even more of a ruckus on the list, methinks.


                                        ---= Morgan



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