Unless you have a doctorate, honorifics are easy if you’re a dude. It’s “Mr.” in all circumstances.
For the rest of us, not so much. I get Mrs., Miss, and Ms. Simpson in probably about equal numbers.
Even if you actually know me, it’s complicated. I’m not Miss Simpson because I’m married, and I’m not Mrs. Simpson because my husband’s name is Brodbeck, and I’m not Mrs. Brodbeck because MY last name is Simpson.
I think the only really correct way to refer to me, if you’re going to go down that road, is Ms. Simpson. But feel free to just call me Dana.
Also, I’m always surprised how many people didn’t learn this in school like I did, but if you don’t know a woman’s marital status, or even if you do, Ms. is generally the safe choice.
Who uses “Mrs.” in speech anymore anyway?
You’d be surprised.
I usually use it out of respect if I know someone’s marital status.
I haven’t called anyone “Mrs” since high school, to be honest…in fact, a few adults who I knew as “Mrs. So-and-so” in school insisted I start calling them by their first names after I graduated. (A surprisingly difficult adjustment!) In college it was generally “Professor So-and-so” or “Doctor So-and-so” so it didn’t come up much.
I usually consider “Mrs Hisname” as a title, used by people who don’t know my real name. I get that occasionally socially, though I go by “Ms Myname” professionally and the children are “X & Y Hisname” There is one place I could find online where I’m referred to by the wrong name — as a survivor on the Mother-in-law’s obituary.
Does “Rain” still count, or have you dropped that monicker?
I still answer to it.
I almost took it as a legal middle name, but decided not to mess with my existing initials.
Oh good… I’ve always liked that name.
I get called Mrs. constantly by students, which drives me crazy since to them I should be Prof., and even outside class I am Dr. And, besides that, the polite thing to call a woman if you don’t know her preference is Ms. I have to disagree strongly with Mataata on that point.
Agreed. Even if calling me “Mrs.” made any logical sense, I’d still feel old being addressed that way.
Oh, so people don’t actually like it? Noted.
It’s definitely a matter of individual preference. Which is the problem in the first place.
Mrs is best reserved for people who explicitly request it.
Keep in mind that “Mrs.” was, for a long time, a term of respect for a woman, while “Miss” was used for young girls. (Similar to the difference between “Madame” and “Mademoiselle” in French.) “Ms.” was revived in the Twentieth Century after having doed in the 17th, specifically to be used as a generic; because of that, it can be hard for people raised with the more traditional titles of “Miss” and “Mrs.” to place.