Disrespectful use of "mister" [closed]
Is it disrespectful to use "mister" with a person's first name? Examples: Mr. Tom, Mr. Phil, etc.
Solution 1:
In many English speaking parts of the world, Mr Firstname would be how a servant speaks to an employer. If used outside of that relationship it may be a teasing (or even angry) way to say "you are treating me like a servant." However this wouldn't happen between strangers, or in a context where you weren't sure whether you were being insulted or not. Some children, raised to call all adults Mr Lastname, Ms Lastname etc may transition to Mr Firstname, Ms Firstname etc to indicate the closeness of the family relationship while still addressing the adult respectfully. If you are reading dialog where someone calls another person Mr Firstname, assume it should convey tremendous politeness, but keep in mind excessive politeness ("oh yes sir, thankyou sir, that's so generous of you sir") may in fact be meant sarcastically.
The word Mister alone, in say "listen, Mister, you are keeping me from where I need to be" is rude. It carries a certain "I can't be bothered to learn or use your name, but I am clearly addressing only you" tone to it. Very different from calling the unknown person Sir, for example.
And finally Mr Adjective can be gently teasing or flat out rude. "OK, Mr StickInTheMud, we won't go!" or "Thanks to Mr Rules, it's not happening."
Solution 2:
The intention of the speaker and the peculiarities of the person so addressed determine whether addressing someone as Mr. Firstname pleases or aggravates the addressee. I know that I wouldn't like to be called "Mr. Sven," because it sounds either too familiar or too obsequious or too creepily old-fashioned, going back to a day when—in the U.S. South, anyway—it was standard practice for a black servant or slave to address members of his or her employer's or owner's family as Mister (or Marse or Miss or Miz) Firstname.
Specific instances of being addressed as Mr Actualfirstname aside, there are a couple of forms of generic Mr Firstname usage in which the intention is anything but flattering.
Wentworth & Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang (1961) includes this entry:
Mister Charlie A white man. Some Negro use.
In 1964, however, James Baldwin published a play based on the real-life murder of Emmett Till, called Blues for Mister Charlie, which may have given the slang term a longer life and certainly gave it literary resonance.
Chapman & Kipfer, Dictionary of American Slang, Third Edition (1996) identifies two Mister Firstname slang terms:
Mister Charlie black by 1960 A white man; =the MAN.
and:
Mister Tom n phr by 1960s A black man who wishes to be or has been assimilated into the white middle-class culture; =UNCLE TOM.
Addressing or referring to someone as either "Mr Charlie" or "Mr Tom" when that is not the person's given name is calculated to be offensive and/or dismissive.