A language question
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Rian wrote: What's the differense between Mrs and Ms?
Mrs, a married woman?
Ms, not married?
Not quite. An unmarried woman is "Miss".
"Ms" used to be predominantly used by either divorced women or odious feminists who were keen to make a point that they were'nt married. However now it is more usually used (particularly in a business sense) when the marital status of the woman being addressed is unknown.
"Oi, bird" is socially unacceptable. Apparently.
Old Blue wrote:
Rian wrote: What's the differense between Mrs and Ms?
Mrs, a married woman?
Ms, not married?
Not quite. An unmarried woman is "Miss".
"Ms" used to be predominantly used by either divorced women or odious feminists who were keen to make a point that they were'nt married. However now it is more usually used (particularly in a business sense) when the marital status of the woman being addressed is unknown.
"Oi, bird" is socially unacceptable. Apparently.
What about "yo, buncakes"? I believe that dates back to the mid-1600s, when most women were bakers by trade and buncakes were a popular delicacy, thus it shouldn't be offensive to modern women...
:p
"Mr." does not specify whether the man is married or unmarried; "Ms." does not specify whether the woman is married or unmarried (unlike "Miss" and "Mrs," which indicate unmarried and married, respectively). In business, because one can't know the marital status of a stranger without asking, the proper form for addressing a woman is now "Ms."
Ms was/is suposed to be a politicly correct way of addressing a female, as not to connotate whether or not she is married. A few years ago the policy at work changed again, and we are to use Mrs and Miss again.
giggle,giggle