m'lady
verbEtymology Elision of my + lady.
1
To address as “m’lady”.
- […]when people living in the same social set m’lorded and m’ladied each other with much frequency.1929, Mrs. C. S. Peel [i.e., Constance Peel], A Hundred Wonderful Years: Social and Domestic Life of a Century, 1820-1920, London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., page 103:
- […]lavishly “M’Ladyed,” as was the fashion of the day.1932, Mrs. C. S. Peel [i.e., Constance Peel], The Stream of Time: Social and Domestic Life in England, 1805-1861, page 162:
4 more examples
- Then he was coming down the slope to her, m’ladying her again: “It’s the lady who telephoned, m’lady. I wasn’t sure whether you would wish to receiver her, m’lady. So I asked her to wait in the hall until I ascertained whether you had returned, m’lady”.1938, Gilbert Frankau, The Dangerous Years: A Trilogy, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., book three (Present Day), chapter ninety-eight, section 5, page 680:
- Fanny (how much Tom had told her about Fanny) m’ladied her and took her cloak.1939, Gilbert Frankau, Royal Regiment: A Novel of Contemporary Behaviours, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., page 423:
- “[…]Please get out of the habit of m’ladying me, once and for all, and reserve it for Grandmama.” “Yes, m’lady!” “There you go again!”1962, Frank Baines, Culture of Bacillus, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, page 96:
- If only she could get him to stop m’ladying her...2021, Jackie Barbosa, “Epilogue”, in A Bit of Rough: The House of Uncommons, Book One, Circe Press, →ISBN: