Terry O'Reilly

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4,296 appearances 19 recordings 1 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 2d ago

Terry O'Reilly’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly · When You're This Big, They Call You Mister · 18 Jul 2026 podcast

Honorifics are titles that refer to a person in a formal or respectful manner.

The word Mr. comes from old 15th century English usage to distinguish the head of a household.

For example, the patriarch of a family would be named Mr. Johnson.

His sons would be referred to as Mr. Jed Johnson and Mr. George Johnson.

Sometimes the word Mr. was combined with other high titles like Mr. Prime Minister or Mr. Speaker.

But the feminine version of that was rarely Mrs., but rather Madam Prime Minister or Madam Speaker.

Which brings us to the honorific title of Mrs. The title of Mrs., spelled M-R-S period, was a contraction of the word Mistress.

It was used historically for both married and unmarried women.

Then in the 1600s, a distinction was made using Mrs. for married women and Miss for single women.

Note the abbreviated word MRS period is rarely spelled out in full, and there seems to be no standard spelling, either M-I-S-S-U-S or M-I-S-S-I-S, which leads to the question, why is there an R in MRS period if it comes from the word Mrs.?

Well, that's because both Mrs. and Miss are rooted in the word mistress, which, back in the day, was a title given to women who had authority, control, or power.

Think headmistress of a school.

Then, sometime in the 15th century, the word mistress began to be used in a romantic context to refer to a man's beloved or sweetheart.

Then, in the 17th century, the word mistress became problematic.

It then referred to a woman who had a, quote, continuing extramarital sexual relationship with a man who provides her with financial support.

Interestingly, and not surprisingly, there is no male counterpart word for mistress.

A man having an affair is simply called a man.

Now we come to the honorific title of Ms., spelled M-S, period.

While we think of it as a term born of the 1970s women's lib movement, it can be traced back to England in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Like Mrs. and Miss, it too is a derivation of the word mistress.

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