Mister is an alteration of Master; the equivalent female titles, Mrs, Miss, and Ms, are variants of Mistress. After the development of the word Mister for adult males, the title Master was retained and used for boys and young men.
When addressing someone directly, Mr is usually used with the last name only ("May I help you, Mr Ericson?"). In other circumstances, it can be used with either the last name or the full name ("This is Mr James Ericson."; "Would you please help Mr Ericson?"). On envelopes, it is usually used with the full name, or with initials and surname.
The title of Mr, like any other title, is a term of respect, and failure to use it where it might be expected may be interpreted as a sign of (perhaps deliberate) disrespect, though it is commonly not used among close friends or in other familiar settings.
The title "mister" is sometimes used informally by itself in direct address ("Are you all right, mister?"). In formal usage, the title sir is used ("May I help you, sir?)".[citations needed]
Mrs or Mrs. is an English title used for women, usually just for those who are married and who do not have another title that would take precedence over it, such as "Dr..", "Lady", or "Dame". The pronunciation varies regionally but is usually (IPA: /'mɪsɪz/ or /'mɪsɪs/). In the United Kingdom, most Commonwealth countries, and Ireland, a full stop (period) does not usually follow the abbreviated form: "Mrs Price". In the U.S. a period is almost always used: "Mrs. Jones".
Mrs originated as a contraction of the title "Mistress", the feminine of "Mister" or "Master", which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women. The split into "Mrs" for married women and "Miss" for unmarried women began during the 17th Century. Since then the title is rarely written out and lacks a standardized spelling. When it is spelt out it is usually found as "missus" or "missis", though one variant, in the works of Thomas Hardy and others, is "Mis'ess", reflecting its etymology.
Miss is a title typically used for an unmarried woman (not entitled to a higher title). It is a contraction of mistress, originating during the 17th Century. Its counterpart, Mrs., is used for married women.Miss can be used in direct address to a woman, for example, May I help you, Miss? Some women consider this disrespectful and prefer ma'am (or madam in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth). By British tradition, Miss is often used by schoolchildren to address female teachers without using their name, regardless of marital status.
In some styles of etiquette, the eldest daughter of a family was addressed on paper simply as Miss Doe, with the younger daughters being addressed as Miss Jane Doe and Miss Rebecca Doe. In person, as in when making introductions, the styling would have been extended to unmarried cousins with the same surname.
In the American South, Miss is also traditionally used irrespective of marital status and added to a woman's first name in direct or indirect address, as Miss Ellen from Gone with the Wind or Miss Ellie from Dallas. This form was also used in upper class households in all English-speaking countries by servants to address or refer to the unmarried ladies of the household, and occasionally in family-run businesses in the same manner, though more commonly it was used to address servants if they were addressed by title at all; such usages are rare today.
Miss was formerly the default title for a businesswoman, but it has largely been replaced by Ms. in this context. It was (and to some extent remains) also a default title for celebrities, such as actresses (Miss Helen Hayes, Miss Amelia Earhart). Such default usage has also proved problematic; the poet Dorothy Parker was often referred to as Miss Parker, even though Parker was the name of her first husband and she herself preferred Mrs. Parker. Later in the century, the use of "Miss" or "Mrs" became a problem for the New York Times in referring to political candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a married woman who did not use her husband's surname, since Mrs has only been used with a woman's maiden name in limited circumstances. (See more at Mrs.) Current American etiquette states that Ms. is preferred for a woman who has kept her maiden name after marriage and in a business setting where one is not sure of how the woman wants to be addressed. While Miss can be used it is usually reserved for girls under eighteen.[1]
Another notable use of Miss is as the title of a beauty queen (given that in most pageants it is a requirement that contestants be unmarried), such as Miss America, Miss Universe, or Miss Congeniality.
Other languages, such as French, Spanish, Bulgarian, and Portuguese, have borrowed the English Miss to refer to the winner of a beauty pageant.
Miss can be used in the plural, as Misses. The usage The Misses Doe was often used in the United Kingdom to refer to unmarried sisters, but this usage is now largely obsolete.
In India, a female school teacher is usually addressed as "Miss". The "Miss" is usually postfixed such as "Shanti Miss" when referring to them in absence. All students rise and say in chorus "Good Morning Miss" when the teacher enters the class.
2007-05-17 13:08:31
·
answer #1
·
answered by jewle8417 5
·
0⤊
0⤋
I even have that exact same concern any time I play a cyber web game. I play international of warcraft alot, and maximum adult men that play are confident that i'm mendacity approximately my gender. while they hear my voice they get all annoyed and tell me that i'm basically enjoying reason i'm gruesome and have not have been given any acquaintances (no longer genuine). additionally, there are alot of comments that adult men will make that are particularly scary approximately their better halves, girlfriends and young babies. it is not very encouraging to think of that some adult men are like that...
2016-12-11 12:36:01
·
answer #4
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋