Of course no one asked me but if they had I would have told them that we actually used the word “magister” for a while, at least in writing. I suspect it wasn’t used in speech because it’s frankly kind of clunky and it died out pretty quickly even in writing. I usually see it on various administrative papers that masters had to fill out, most often in its pompous adjectival form, which makes me laugh every time. Here’s an example that I just happened have ready to hand on my laptop:
If we had to change I would have preferred “Maestro,” which is, I believe, substantially funnier.
Bonus: Thanks to Campus Photographer Jeff Fitlow for another classic Rice image.
