the <<dunce>> corner
We had to send Mr Quentin and Mr Robert on this thread to the dunce corner. 
I have two questions:
Where does this expression originate?
And more important:
Why the hat''''? 
OMG! I had to check the word and dunce means burro, I thought it might mean something like shame (verugüenza).
Does this "custom" still exist? 
Anybody can think of a good translation? I mean, we say:
Vete a la esquina, cara a la pared.
Anyway, there is no hat involved.
I say that to my students, jeje, but they only laugh at me. 
13 Answers
Está Dios creando al mundo y le está poniendo nombre a los animales:
-- Tú te llamarás gallina, tú te llamarás caballo, tú te llamarás
burro....
Y siguió poniendo nombres. Poco después el burro pregunta:
-- ¿Y cómo me llamaba yo?
-- Y Dios contesta: Burro
Después de pasados 3 minutos, el burro pregunta:
-- ¿Y cómo me llamaba yo?
-- Burro
Y así 5 veces más volvió a preguntar:
-- ¿Y cómo me llamaba yo?
Hasta que Dios le responde:
-- Burro, idiota
Y el burro dice:
-- Yo ya me estaba aprendiendo el nombre y usted ahora me
dice el apellido. ¡No ve que me confunde¡
Robert! ¡¡A la esquina con cara a la pared!! 
a, E. io U el buro sabe mas que tu 
I have NEVER (to the best of my senile recollection) heard or seen the title Mister used with someone's first name in English.
The headmaster of the school (in New England) that I attended as a child was almost always addressed as Mr. John (his given name). I suspect that the reason was because the school had been founded by his father and the use of his given name served to distinguish him from his father (since, obviously, there surnames were the same). The rest of the faculty were addressed as Mr./Mrs./Miss + surname (in those days no one said/used Ms.).
In fact, that is one of the things that I like most about non-native speakers is that they speak much more properly and respectfully than native speakers because the proper polite way to speak is usually the first thing that they are taught in formal education.
No amount of formal education can survive living amongst native speakers. When I first traveled to the US (from Brazil), in less than one week I kept catching myself saying "yeah" instead of "yes", which I still find rather disgusting. But there's no way I can make a "yes" come out of my mouth unless I stop and think before I say it.
Bad manners are highly contagious...
Well, I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but people say it to me all the time. They say it in a form of comaraderie. Purely informal.
I do not feel that it is inappropriate or out of place for someone to call me "Mr. Nate".
I'll accept your testimony. I am not familiar with the usage.
Using Mr. is not inappropriate, and it wouldn't be misunderstood.
Are you talking about el señor [first name] or are you talking about English usage. I have NEVER (to the best of my senile recollection) heard or seen the title Mister used with someone's first name in English. (Well, maybe in some movies about slavery where they mix the usage of Master/Mister and a first name or the British usage/stilted American]. If we're talking about modern English usage then I'm afraid that you'll have to provide me with an example from somewhere before I will be convinced.
Actually, I can think of some examples, but they are not germane to this discussion. I do recall a cartoon character named Mr. Bill and a talking horse named Mr. Ed on a TV show.
Using Mr. is not inappropriate, and it wouldn't be misunderstood.
Are you talking about el señor [first name] or are you talking about English usage. I have NEVER (to the best of my senile recollection) heard or seen the title Mister used with someone's first name. (Well, maybe in some movies about slavery where they mix the usage of Master/Mister and a first name or the British usage]. If we're talking about modern English usage then I'm afraid that you'll have to provide me with a example from somewhere before I will be convinced.
Well, I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but people say it to me all the time. They say it in a form of comaraderie. Purely informal.
I do not feel that it is inappropriate or out of place for someone to call me "Mr. Nate".
qfreed,
Your reply brought back some memories. You are absolutely correct about the southern tradition of addressing children as "mistress" or "master." My mother (who is 75 years old and very southern) always sent cards to my childen addressed this way. As far as I know, the custom has died out. Also as we have become a less formal society, our friends children address me as "Mr. Vance" and my wife as "Mrs. Rhonda." I have wondered before if this was a southern thing (thang) or was in use in the English language every where.
We had to send Mr Quentin and **Mr Robert **
I'm sure that you are aware that in English we do not use titles with Christian (first) names. (versus Spanish's use of Don or Doña)
You know the rule about not misleading people on this site that are learning English.
Actually I believe there was a Southern (US) usage of Mistress [first name] and Master [first name] for younger children, but it is long out of use except when mimicking British usage. I believe that Alfred, the British butler in BATMAN, refers to Bruce Wayne as Master Bruce.
Using Mr. is not inappropriate, and it wouldn't be misunderstood. In fact, that is one of the things that I like most about non-native speakers is that they speak much more properly and respectfully than native speakers because the proper polite way to speak is usually the first thing that they are taught in formal education. Then, sadly, the first thing that they learn is all of the swear words.
We had to send Mr Quentin and **Mr Robert **
I'm sure that you are aware that in English we do not use titles with Christian (first) names. (versus Spanish's use of Don or Doña)
You know the rule about not misleading people on this site that are learning English.
Actually I believe there was a Southern (US) usage of Mistress [first name] and Master [first name] for younger children, but it is long out of use except when mimicking British usage. I believe that Alfred, the British butler in BATMAN, refers to Bruce Wayne as Master Bruce.
Anybody can think of a good translation? I mean, we say:
Vete a la esquina, cara a la pared.
I'm glad that they take it as a joke, because, here, if you were to make a child sit it the corner and face the wall (a timeout) you would probably be facing a lawsuit for psychologically damaging the child's social/mental development. We are definitely an overly litigious society.
The dunce cap, however, wasn't used so much as a punishment for misbehavior as ridicule for giving a foolish answer to a question. (or if you couldn't answer the question because you did not do your lessons).
That context of providing a foolish response (flawed or less than brillant to use your characterization of the responses here (i.e. brillant, the less than refers to ours) was what Robert and I were discussing (after you trashed our work; read that compassionately reviewed) .
We had to send Mr Quentin and Mr Robert on this thread to the dunce corner.
I have two questions:
Where does this expression originate?
And more important:
Why the hat''''?
OMG! I had to check the word and dunce means burro, I thought it might mean something like shame (verugüenza).
Does this "custom" still exist?
Anybody can think of a good translation? I mean, we say:
Vete a la esquina, cara a la pared.
Anyway, there is no hat involved.
I say that to my students, jeje, but they only laugh at me.
No, the custom does not still exist here unless you mean figuratively where a teaches uses public ridicule or shame to punish a student's misbehavior or foolishness. I think that practice is still alive and well, even though, in may be more verbal nowadays in the form of sarcastic remarks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunce_cap
Note the reference to donkey ears and "asinine" behavior.
