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@Drew@radical.town No one is trying to own you.
Generally when we use language what matters is the meaning of the words in the here and now. Sometimes that is effected by the past in various ways, language is weird, often the modern day meaning has little resemblance to what it meant 500 years ago.
I am using those terms in the way the general public uses it, nothing more. The fact that it was used in some cultures int he past to denote a hierarchy is largely unrelated to its modern day use.
As for it not being a pronoun, thats a different issue. As with most words it would depend on how it is used. Int he sentence "Mister Freeman talks too much" Mister would **not** be a pronoun, you are right, however in the sentence "You talk too much mister" then it would be a pronoun. Remember a pronoun is a word that acts as a noun but is a substitution for a proper noun. In that sentence mister would be in its pronoun form.
When I get a letter in the mail to go to court and it is addressed to Mr. Freeman" IS the court telling me I am superior to the court? No
Yes sometimes, in some contexts it is used to mean hierarchy, the vast majority of the time it does not. In fact it is considered proper in any formal conversation to use mister regardless of hierarchy and typically goes both ways in polite, formal, discourse.
So yes I do recognize that in a select number of situations it could be used as a sign of hierarchy, however the majority of times it is not, and this is the way in which it is used here.
You also forget this isnt one way, you can request I use any pronouns you wish as well, so if you want to be called Sir, Mister, Madam, or any other respectful pronoun I would honor it in return, clearly demonstrating there is no hierarchy.
@Drew@radical.town
In fact the more I think about it the more I realize mister is really never, in and of itself, used to show hierarchy in modern society. Though there is a closely related practice that is. That is, when one person shows more respect to the other than what is given in return. This respect can be expressed in many ways, one of which is using language that denotes respect to the other where that language isnt returned, such as the use of the term "mister" or "sir". Similar practices are using someones last name where they use your first name. In some asian cultures it is expressed by how deeply you bow, one person bowing deeper than the other.
But this is not the same as saying mister denotes hierarchy, in and of itself it doesnt.
@Drew@radical.town
@freemo
I'm not a native English speaker but I'd say that in the sentence "you talk too much mister", you is a pronoun and mister is an appellative. :)
Anyway, as some people take very seriously that pronouns matter, don't you think your preferred pronouns can be seen as a mockery?
@miguel31416 I'm sure some people might incorrectly see it as a mockery. Then again I'd say pronouns like "Xhe" which are also popular with some people would have a far greater tendency to be seen as a mockery, though just as incorrect in that assumption.
If someone wants to incorrectly see something I do as a mockery, especially considering how vocally supportive I am of the LGBT and specifically Trans community, well, thats on them. Its not my job to stop people from drawing false conclusions.
@freemo @Drew Sorry to enter the conversation, but it seems to me you're still ignoring the usage/social context of it.
Appealing to an argument that "this word has changed from the past", when in fact most of people still refer to it as a sense of hierarchy.