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Oh, combined wisdom of PF-ers, I seek your help again (and probably not for the last time).
We are working on a translation of a story into English. Thing takes place in Poland, now and then, and at some point our main hero meets a woman (named Miecia) that fourty years ago worked as a non-resident housekeeper at her grandparents. Miecia tells an important story about things that happened in the past. Problem is, whenever she speaks about her then-host she uses form "pan inżynier" (Mr. Engineer, that's just the way these things work in Polish). This reflects a combination of respect and adoration, amplified by the fact Miecia is from the sticks while the host was an educated engineer from the large city. We can't find anything similar in English.
Can you think of a honorific (or something of this type) that would leave the English reader with similar feelings about the story and Miecia's attitude?
(in a few weeks I will explain what is it about, I think some of you may find the project interesting)
We are working on a translation of a story into English. Thing takes place in Poland, now and then, and at some point our main hero meets a woman (named Miecia) that fourty years ago worked as a non-resident housekeeper at her grandparents. Miecia tells an important story about things that happened in the past. Problem is, whenever she speaks about her then-host she uses form "pan inżynier" (Mr. Engineer, that's just the way these things work in Polish). This reflects a combination of respect and adoration, amplified by the fact Miecia is from the sticks while the host was an educated engineer from the large city. We can't find anything similar in English.
Can you think of a honorific (or something of this type) that would leave the English reader with similar feelings about the story and Miecia's attitude?
(in a few weeks I will explain what is it about, I think some of you may find the project interesting)