Here in Indonesia, a title, or indicator, is applied to one's name--Pak for an adult male, Bu for an adult female, Mas and Mbak for a younger man or woman respectively. Therefore, I am Pak Richard or Pak Will (with a preference for the latter, because I never did like the name Richard, and because Indonesians cannot pronounce it anyway). "Pak" is both a respectful and a friendly term and will most often be attached to one's first name rather than one's last, unless the man being addressed is one possessing a particular authority or higher station, in which case Pak would be interpreted as the same as Sir.
Given this common usage, Indonesians will seek to duplicate the convention in English by using "Mister", while sticking to the attachment of this to the first name. Mister Richard, Mister Will. No matter how many times one tells them that this sounds weird in English, they insist on using it anyway because, perhaps, they cannot conceive of addressing another person without the "prefix". It would seem to them rude. But we don't really call someone Mister So-and-So, using the first name, unless we're talking about the comedic character known as Mr. Bean (and even there, I don't know whether Bean is the guy's first name or last name. He simply is Mr. Bean and has no other name).
So common, and so apparently necessary is this practice, that even a westerner will by-and-by begin to attach it when he refers to himself.
Moreover, even when attached to the last name, Mister is becoming rare in the West. I remember a friend of my stepson's who could think of no other way to address me than as "Preston's dad"--as in, "Hey, Preston's dad, can you drive me home?" It did not occur to him to say "Mr. Boughton" or "Sir", as I would have done quite naturally when I was a boy.
Given this common usage, Indonesians will seek to duplicate the convention in English by using "Mister", while sticking to the attachment of this to the first name. Mister Richard, Mister Will. No matter how many times one tells them that this sounds weird in English, they insist on using it anyway because, perhaps, they cannot conceive of addressing another person without the "prefix". It would seem to them rude. But we don't really call someone Mister So-and-So, using the first name, unless we're talking about the comedic character known as Mr. Bean (and even there, I don't know whether Bean is the guy's first name or last name. He simply is Mr. Bean and has no other name).
So common, and so apparently necessary is this practice, that even a westerner will by-and-by begin to attach it when he refers to himself.
Moreover, even when attached to the last name, Mister is becoming rare in the West. I remember a friend of my stepson's who could think of no other way to address me than as "Preston's dad"--as in, "Hey, Preston's dad, can you drive me home?" It did not occur to him to say "Mr. Boughton" or "Sir", as I would have done quite naturally when I was a boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment