Ms.

This article is about the title. For the magazine, see Ms. (magazine). For other uses, see MS (disambiguation).

Ms. (Canada, USA) or Ms (UK) (normally  /ˈmɪz/ when stressed; when unstressed, either  /ˈmɪz/, /mɨz/, /məz/ or /məs/)^[1][2] is an English honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman. According to The Emily Post Institute, Ms. is the default form of address for women, regardless of marital status, in the US.^[3]

Etymology

"Ms.", along with "Miss" and "Mrs.", began to be used as early as the 17th century as titles derived from the then formal "Mistress", which, like Mister, did not originally reference marital status.^[4][5] "Ms." however, fell into disuse in favor of the other two titles and was not revived until the 20th century.^[6][7]

The earliest known proposal for the modern revival of "Ms." as a title appeared in The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts on November 10, 1901:

There is a void in the English language which, with some diffidence, we undertake to fill. Every one has been put in an embarrassing position by ignorance of the status of some woman. To call a maiden Mrs is only a shade worse than to insult a matron with the inferior title Miss. Yet it is not always easy to know the facts... Now, clearly, what is needed is a more comprehensive term which does homage to the sex without expressing any views as to their domestic situation, and what could be simpler or more logical than the retention of what the two doubtful terms have in common. The abbreviation "Ms" is simple, it is easy to write, and the person concerned can translate it properly according to circumstances. For oral use it might be rendered as "Mizz," which would be a close parallel to the practice long universal in many bucolic regions, where a slurred Mis' does duty for Miss and Mrs alike.^[8]

The term was again suggested as a convenience to writers of business letters by such publications as the Bulletin of the American Business Writing Association (1951) and The Simplified Letter, issued by the National Office Management Association (1952)."^[9]

In 1961, Sheila Michaels attempted to put the term into use when she saw what she thought was a typographical error on the address label of a copy of News & Letters sent to her roommate.^[10][11] Michaels "was looking for a title for a woman who did not 'belong' to a man."^[12] She knew the separation of the now common terms Miss and Mrs. had derived from "Mistress", but one could not suggest that women use the original title with its now louche connotations. Her efforts to promote use of a new honorific were at first ignored. Around 1971, in a lull during a WBAI-radio interview with The Feminists group, Michaels suggested the use of Ms. A friend of Gloria Steinem heard the interview and suggested it as a title for her new magazine. Ms. magazine's popularity finally allowed the term to enjoy widespread usage.^[13] In February 1972, the US Government Printing Office approved using "Ms." in official government documents.^[14]

Even several public opponents of "non-sexy language", such as William Safire, were finally convinced that Ms. had earned a place in English by the case of US Congresswoman Geraldine A. Ferraro. Ferraro, a United States vice-presidential candidate in 1984, was a married woman who used her birth surname professionally rather than her husband's ("Zaccaro"). Safire pointed out that it would be equally incorrect to call her "Miss Ferraro" (as she was married), or "Mrs. Ferraro" (as her husband was not "Mr. Ferraro") — and that calling her "Mrs. Zaccaro" would confuse the reader.^[15]

Usage

American

The American Heritage Book of English Usage states that: "Using Ms. obviates the need for the guesswork involved in figuring out whether to address someone as Mrs. or Miss: you can’t go wrong with Ms. Whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not, Ms. is always correct."^[16]

In business, "Ms." is the standard default title for women until or unless an individual makes another preference known, and this default is also becoming more common socially. The default use of Ms. is also championed by a number of etiquette writers, including Judith Martin (a.k.a. "Miss Manners").^[17]

Canadian

"Ms." is the default title for a woman in Canadian usage,^{[18][19]:14.02} if one is needed, as it is applicable to single, widowed or divorced women; married women who retain their maiden name, have combined their surname with their spouse's (same- or opposite-sex), or taken their spouse's surname (or changed their name altogether); and women in common-law relationships.

However, it is increasingly common, especially in business correspondence, to omit a title altogether and refer to people using just their first and last name.^[18][19] A man might be introduced as "John Doe" (not "Mr. Doe") or "John Doe, Senior Economist" if their position is relevant, while correspondence to a women might begin with "Dear Jane Doe", "Dear J. Doe", "Dear J. Doe, MD", etc. The reason for omitting a title is that the writer need not know the gender of the addressee, their gender is irrelevant, their preferred title is unknown ("Ms." vs. "Mrs.", but also "Dr.", etc.), or they are transgendered. It is also consistent with the generally less formal context in North American business and the Canadian rejection of titular distinctions (see Canadian Titles Debate), compared with Europe and Asia. For example, the Canadian businessman Kenneth Thomson (see Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet), who from his father's death in 1976 until his own death in 2006 held the British hereditary peerage Baron Thomson of Fleet, remarked, "In London I'm Lord Thomson, in Toronto I'm Ken. I have two sets of Christmas cards and two sets of stationery. You might say I'm having my cake and eating it too. I'm honouring a promise to my father by being Lord Thomson, and at the same time I can just be Ken."^[20]

British

The Times (UK) states in its style guide that: "Ms is nowadays fully acceptable when a woman wants to be called thus, or when it is not known for certain if she is Mrs or Miss".^[21] The Guardian, which restricts its use of honorific titles to leading articles, states in its style guide: "use Ms for women... unless they have expressed a preference for Miss or Mrs".^[22]

Many women in the UK style themselves either "Miss" or "Mrs"^{[citation needed]}, but Ms is still widely used. However, in some circles the appellation Ms is now standard, for instance in business or where one may not know or find relevant the marital status of the woman so addressed. Ms may be used if the woman in question is divorced and reverts to her maiden name, and is also useful for situations such as women in same-sex relationships, particularly civil partnerships; women who are cohabiting with a partner and thus neither single nor married; married women who have kept their maiden name; and women who prefer not to reveal their marital status for reasons of basic feminism. Additionally, she may have changed her name by deed poll and use Ms because it is neither a married nor a maiden name. Most female surgeons take on the title Ms in their profession, regardless of their marital status.

Plurals

Either Mss. or Mses. may be used as the modern English plural of Ms. Alternatively, if using the traditional French plurals ("Messieurs" for Mr., and "Mesdemoiselles" for Miss) one may use "Mesdames" (abbreviation "Mmes."), which is also the plural for "Mrs."

In editorial work Mss. can be confusing, however, since it is also the abbreviation for "manuscripts (by)".

Notes

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
2. ^ Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 463. ISBN 0582053838.  entry "Ms". It may be pronounced with schwa even in stressed situation.
3. ^ http://www.emilypost.com/everyday/forms_of_address.htm Emily Post's Guide to Addressing Correspondence.
4. ^ Spender, Dale. Man-Made Language.
5. ^ Stannard, Una. Mrs Man.
6. ^ http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/columns/missmanners/story/824581.html
7. ^ Martin, Judith. Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn of the Millennium, p.10. Simon & Schuster, New York, New York. ISBN 0-671-72228-X.
8. ^ Zimmer, Ben (2009-06-23). "Hunting the Elusive First 'Ms.'". Word Routes. The Visual Thesaurus. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1895/. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
10. ^ Angela Jeffs (November 5, 2000). "Missing piece of puzzle in story of 'Ms.'". The Japan Times Online. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20001105a1.html. 
11. ^ Sheila Michaels (March–April 2008). "Forty Years of Defying the Odds". Solidarity Webzine. Solidarity. http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/1399. Retrieved November 9, 2009. 
12. ^ "Call Me Ms" The Guardian (accessed August 20, 2007)
13. ^ Zimmer, Ben (2009-10-25). "On Language: Ms.". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25FOB-onlanguage-t.html. Retrieved 2009-11-16. 
14. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 246. ISBN 0465041957. 
15. ^ Safire, William. "On Language: Goodbye Sex, Hello Gender", The New York Times, August 5, 1984, Section 6 p. 8.
16. ^ http://www.bartleby.com/64/C005/025.html, The American Heritage Book of English Usage (31 October 2007)
17. ^ http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=8318992
18. ^ ^{a b} Editors' Association of Canada (2000). Editing Canadian English (Rev. ed.). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 1-55199-045-8. http://www.editors.ca/resources/eac_publications/ece.html. 
19. ^ ^{a b} Public Works and Government Services Canada (1997). The Canadian Style (Rev. ed.). Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited. ISBN 1-55002-276-8. http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/tcdnstyl/index-eng.html?lang=eng. 
20. ^ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Theglobeandmail.com. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060612.wthomobit0612/BNStory/Front. Retrieved 2010-06-18. 
21. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_services/specials/style_guide/article986718.ece The Times Online Style Guide (31 October 2007)
22. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,,184829,00.html The Guardian Style Guide (August 2009)

External links

• The Times style guide
• The Guardian style guide