esq.

i think it’s interesting to contemplate how the meaning of the words “gentleman” and “lady” have changed in the context of the united states

here, we don’t use them to mean persons of “gentle”, that is, non-commoner, birth, but rather to describe a mode of behavior

to ‘act like a gentleman’ (or ‘lady’) in the united states means to show good manners, that is, to treat everybody with respect

a very different thing than the phrase would have meant i think in england 500 years ago…