Voah-and-Rero

Poul Anderson's "The Ways of Love" resembles the same author's The Earth Book of Stormgate in that it is narrated by an alien who addresses members of his own species and discusses human beings. The narrator, Voah, informs us that, in the course of a conversation, Terangi Maclaren had remarked:

"'I'm not too surprised, Voah-and-Rero.' (He was that familiar with our mores...)" (p. 132)

Husband and wife should be referred to and addressed as a unit. Earlier:

"I pass over the fact that Indigo addressed me alone, ignoring Rero. That might be a simple peculiarity of language, when it was I who had spoken to him." (p. 126)

This reminds me of my visit to Daljit Singh's home in Manchester. I knew not to address Daljit's wife as "Mrs. Singh," although she assured me that it would not have mattered since most people did it anyway. However, all Sikh men are "Singh" whereas women are "Kaur."