Of Messrs and Sir

“Grandpa, when I grow up, I will launch a publishing house with you as its advisor. I will name it Messrs Chowdhury, Rajesh, and Co!” said a happy Rajesh.

“Won’t you take me as a partner?” asked Reena.

“Why not? We can call the firm Messrs Chowdhury, Rajesh, Reena, and Co!”

“I’m afraid, Rajesh, you can’t add Messrs to the company’s name once Reena is in,” observed Grandpa Chowdhury.

“Why not?”

“Messrs is a short form of Messieurs, which is the plural of Monsieur in French. Mister is the English equivalent of Monsieur. With Reena’s name in the company, can you add the plural of Mister?”

“I withdraw myself from the future company. Rajesh is quite taken by the term Messrs, and let him have it by all means. Now I must rush to my college. There will be a talk on the life of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer. Did you know Sir Iyer personally, Grandpa?” asked Reena.

“I did. Well, Reena, you cannot say Sir Iyer. You must say Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer or just Sir C.P. It is because Sir is a prefix to the personal name, not to the surname.”

“Thank God you told me—before I ever meet someone who is knighted. I would have made an awful faux pas!”