In many languages, when a woman gets married, her honorific title gets shorter:
In German, Fräulein becomes Frau.
In French, Mademoiselle becomes Madame.
In Spanish, Señorita becomes Señora.
But in English, Miss becomes Mrs. (missus), which means it goes from one syllable to two.
Only in English does the honorific become longer.
All of the aforementioned foreign language equivalents, the “Miss” form means “Little Woman” (sort of) and the married equivalent is “Woman,” so to speak–that is, the Miss form is a diminutive form of the married equivalent. But both English forms come from abbreviating the same word, mistress.
I suppose one could launch a thousand college papers on this full of baseless speculation that reflects your position on gender bias or the meaning of marriage in personal fulfillment.
Me, I just fill my head with this nonsense throughout the day.
