Dame is a term that shifts dramatically in the cross-Atlantic translation between Britain and the United States. Here it’s considered archaic, a throwback to film noir that taught us to associate it with some of cinema’s immortal screen goddesses – Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford. Ladies all, but each with a natural flint that, with the proper friction, could set a poor sap’s life on fire.
In Britain, Dame is a title equivalent to a knighthood, “properly a name of respect or a title equivalent to lady” in status, instructs Brittanica.com.
