"Leader DeLay"??? What's up with that?

[Wilson Gray]

On May 13, 2005, at 10:46 AM, Mullins, Bill wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: "Leader DeLay"??? What's up with that?
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>>
>> Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
>> When I moved to
>> Connecticut in the late 1980s I was surprised to find that
>> many people in the legal community here used the expression
>> "Attorney Smith," which I had not heard before. The
>> motivation is obvious: to mimic the
>> "make-no-mistake-I'm-someone-important" identification that
>> is standard for physicians.
>>
>> I don't know whether this is a regionalism or not. I suspect
>> this locution is also well-established in the
>> African-American community.
>>

What makes the origin of this local custom an obvious case of mimicry?
What leads you to suspect that this locution is well-established in
African-American community?

Historical note.

In the South, it was never the custom of white people to address a
black person as "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Miss" under any set of
circumstances. However, it *was* customary for whites to address blacks
by any other title, sometimes mockingly, such as addressing a school
principal as "Professor." My father, a native of Alabama who had a
degree in law from the University of Wisconsin, styled himself as "H.
W. Gray / Attorney-at-Law" and as "Atty. H. W. Gray." So, he was
addressed by both blacks and whites as "Attorney Gray" or, mainly by
other blacks, as "Lawyer Gray." Had he made available to white people
his "real," so to speak, name of "Wilson Gray" - the "H" was added for
purposes of euphony, a widespread Southern custom; cf., e.g. the late
President Harry S. Truman - whites would have most likely addressed him
as "Willie," as is my personal experience, even in a city as far
"North" as St. Louis.

In Texas, my maternal grandfather styled himself as "Rev. S. L.
Garrett, D.D." and was addressed as and referred to by all and sundry
as "Reverend Garrett." My maternal grandmother styled herself as "Mrs.
S. L. Garrett." In the black community, she was addressed as and
referred to as "Miss Willie Gladys." When she had occasion to have to
deal with members of "the other group" (one of many euphemisms for
"white people"), she was addressed as and referred to as "Reverend
Garrett's wife." And no. No one was laughing.

On the other hand, all white persons old enough to speak were addressed
as and referred to as "Mr. John" or as "Miss Jane," irrespective of any
other title that the white person of the other group might have
possessed.

"Miss" and "Mrs." were distinguished in writing, but not in speech.

Among blacks, it's possible for a person to have as a name - *not* a
nickname - what would otherwise be a title, such as "Major, Duke,
General, Bishop, Prince, King, Pope, Priest, Lawyer," etc. for men and
"Queen, Princess, Lady," etc. for women. Since there is a dearth of
title-/rank-names available for women, parents are sometimes forced to
be creative. I have a cousin, Hallie Victoria, whose name is based on
the phrase, "Hail, Victoria!" And, of course, there's the custom of
using "Lady" as the femininizer of masculine names, e.g. my cousin,
Lady Percy, daughter of cousin Percy, who had no sons.

-Wilson Gray