Let’s say there’s someone I want to call Mr/Ms/Mrs [Name], but I don’t know their gender, is there a title I can use that doesn’t assume their gender?
Let’s say there’s someone I want to call Mr/Ms/Mrs [Name], but I don’t know their gender, is there a title I can use that doesn’t assume their gender?
I understand what you mean here, except on the difference between Ms and Miss, do you mean this more in terms of writing than speaking? I ask only because I don’t know that I’ve ever been able to hear a particular difference between Ms and Miss when spoken, but that may be more related to my hearing or something that I’ve not realized.
Edit:
Reading a little further, I see that it comes across as sorta creepy? I’d always parsed it as a more informal address compared to the more formal ma’am for femme folks, so this is interesting, to say the least! I suppose it reads sorta like someone calling an adult man, “young man” or “boy” despite their age, since I don’t think there’s something similar to miss for masculine folks.
That would come across creepy, unless from older folks and heavily dependent on context.
Also, calling a woman either Mrs or Miss defines her by her marital status. Since we are more than that, Ms is more appropriate (assuming that an honorific must be used at all).
“Ms.” Is pronounced “mizzz” kinda like you’re a bee, “Miss” is pronounced “missss” like a snake.
I’ve honestly heard Ms. pronounced both ways (and both have been accepted in my experience), so that probably explains the confusion 😅 Thanks though!
I grew up with Mrs and Ms pronounced nearly the same, so I get the pronunciation confusion.