My ex-employee, a "real American" named Nancy, getting married in the late 80s, did not change her last name. On all her diplomas and business cards written her "maiden name". And in all official documents related to work (say, an invitation to a conference), the reference to it begins with "Ms.". But on private invitations, say, to a wedding-christening to friends and relatives, i.e. where they are invited together with her husband, as a couple, she is called "Mrs." plus the husband's last name. More precisely, they are there together and stand: "Mr. & Mrs" plus the husband's surname.

Well, it turns out that this double naming game is actually very common in the States. Nancy Gibbs, a Time Magazine columnist, recently wrote about this: Mrs., Ms. or Miss: Addressing Modern Women.

She says that both Miss and Mrs. come from the word Mistress, meaning the mistress of the house, not necessarily a wife, but in general a woman with some kind of power. Moreover, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the difference between these two abbreviations indicated only the age of the hostess. And only then Mrs. came to mean a married woman, Mr.'s wife, and Miss, therefore, unmarried.

The first use of the title Ms. recorded in history already in 1767 - on the tombstone of a certain woman. Perhaps this was a mistake or a deliberate way to reduce (to save space).

Officially the title of Ms. (pronounced "miz") was introduced in America as early as 1952. It was invented by employees of the National Association of Office Managers - so as not to rack their brains on how to properly address secretaries and not embarrass them and themselves in case of a mistake. The idea was to introduce a "married-neutral" address, to separate the respectful form of addressing a woman from the fact of her marriage.

I don't know how common this form was then. If there was, it really was only among office managers. But when the first feminist magazine was born in the States twenty years later, it was called "Ms." And in the editorial column they wrote that they were doing this in order to establish a new attitude towards a woman - as an individual, and not through her attitude towards a man.

The reaction in the society of that time, both to the women's movement in general, and to the magazine Ms. in particular, as usual, was mixed. The conservative majority was skeptical, to put it mildly. In particular, in the newspaper New York Times published a note under the heading (translation, as close as possible to the original) "The women's movement in provincial America is either a joke or a bore." And Gloria Steinem was represented by a rather paradoxical one: “Miss Steinem, editor of the Ms.

However, in modern America appeal Ms. has long been quite generally accepted, common and even preferred in the official and working environment. The process of introducing a new word was gradual. In particular, the New York Times only gave up in 1986, and Ms. sent a bouquet of flowers to colleagues on this occasion :)

The author of the article writes that she herself does exactly the same as my Nancy with past work: at work she is Ms. plus maiden name, and at home - Mrs. plus the husband's last name. And it happens that the husband is called Mr. plus her maiden name (and he is not offended :)). She believes that there is nothing wrong with such half-heartedness, and that it only gives more freedom choice. Well, maybe...

Depending on the situation, we address the people around us in different ways. An address is understood as an intonationally and grammatically separate independent component, which is used to designate a person or (less often) an object that acts as a speech addressee. Here are some examples of calls to English language:

Excuse me Sir, could you tell me where is the nearest bank?	Sorry, sir Can you tell me where is the nearest bank?
John , please tell my parents I will be late.	John Please tell my parents that I will be late.
Mr. Adams , there is some important information for you.	Mr. Adams , there is important information for you.
Dear Ann , I was really happy when your letter arrived…	Dear Ann , I was really happy when your letter arrived...

As you can see from the examples above, the type of address depends on many factors, in particular, on how formal or, conversely, informal the situation of communication, on whether the form of communication is oral or written, and also on your and the interlocutor's age, gender , social status, professions and relationships of subordination.

Official forms of addressing one person in English

To address a person in a formal situation, English offers several polite forms. For example, to address a man, the following options apply:

Writing an appeal	Transcription		Translation of the example
Mr.	[ˈmɪstə(r)]	Mr. Thompson, could you repeat your requests, please.	Mr. Thompson, could you repeat your request, please.
Sir		I'm afraid, Sir, our headmaster is on holiday at the moment.	I'm afraid, sir, our director is currently on leave.
Esq.	[ɪˈskwʌɪə]	John S. Brown, Esq., come into the office, please!	Mr. John S. Brown, come into the office, please!

With regard to each of the above forms, it is worth noting the following:

• the appeal can be applied to any man, whatever his age, social status and marital status; such an appeal is placed before the name of the addressee, for example: Mr. Johnson - Mr. Johnson;
• the appeal Sir should be chosen if the addressee's surname remains unnamed or unknown; in rarer, but more honorific cases, Sir is an address to a person holding a knighthood (in the United Kingdom) and is placed either before the name, for example - Sir Richard / Sir Richard, or before full name and last name, for example - Sir Elton John / Sir Elton John;
• the appeal is placed after the full name. Message from Mr. in such cases, it should not be used anymore, since it will be redundant. This attitude has its roots in medieval term Esquire (Esquire), denoting first the knight's squire, and only later belonging to the lower strata of the nobility. The form is currently used quite rarely, more often in the written version.

To address a woman in official setting the following forms apply:

Writing an appeal	Transcription	An example of the use of address	Translation of the example
Mrs.	[‘mɪsɪz]	Mrs. smith, can you a speech during the meeting?	Mrs. Smith, could you make a speech at the meeting?
Ms.	[‘mɪz]	Ms. Johns, our company are very sorry about this mistake and offer you some discounts on other goods you need for your business.	Ms. Jones, our company regrets this mistake and offers you some discounts on other products that you need for your business.
Miss	[‘mɪz]	Miss Huston, you are a very promising young teacher!	Miss Houston, you are a very promising young teacher!
madam	[ˈmadəm]	I'm sorry, Madam, could you follow me, please!	Excuse me madam, could you follow me please?

The differences between the above forms of addressing a woman are sometimes very significant, in particular:

• appeal Mrs. sometimes addressed to a married woman and requires after her last name / first name and last name / first name and last name of her spouse, for example: Stevenson / Mrs. Jane Stevenson / Mrs. Paul Stevenson. The last option will seem rather unusual to a Russian person, but there is a simple explanation for this, because the form of Mrs. - this is an appeal expressing belonging to a particular man (Mrs. as a form possessive case from Mr.);
• the address Miss is applicable to an unmarried girl and requires a surname after herself, for example - Miss Brown, less often - a first name, for example Miss Alice;
• appeal Ms. occurs more often in business correspondence, whereas in oral speech one of the two above forms is preferred. This appeal, applicable to any woman regardless of her marriage, is the result of numerous campaigns for women's equality. After the address Ms., recommended in 1974 by the United Nations, it is necessary to use the surname, for example - J. Simpson;
• the address Madam is used if the addressee's surname is not called or unknown, for example - Dear Madam / Dear Madam. In addition, the address Madam is also typical for use in relation to a high-ranking female person, while after it the position she holds can also be called, for example: Madam Managing Director / Madam General Director.

Formal address to several addressees

When verbally addressed to a heterosexual audience, the most typical and acceptable form becomes Ladies and gentlemen! - which is translated into Russian as "Ladies and Gentlemen!" . In a less formal situation, you can find such formulations as Dear friends! — « Dear friends!"; Dear colleagues! - " Dear Colleagues!" or Esteemed colleagues! - "Dear colleagues!" .

In an official written appeal to several persons (presumably mostly males), whose names are unknown, the wording is used Sirs / Lord , for example:

If there is a place written appeal to a group of women whose names and surnames are unknown, the wording is applied Mesdames () / Ladies (Mistresses) , for example:

If the appeal in the correspondence is aimed at several addressees, and their names are known, you can use the wording Messrs ( [ˈmes.əz]) / Lord , after which these names are indicated, for example: MessrsJohnson, Smith and Robinson — Gentlemen Johnson, Smith and Robinson. However, this wording is now considered somewhat outdated.

Informal appeal

If you do not go far from the topic of the appeal in the letter, then it should be noted that when referring to a friend or good acquaintance, it is enough to call him by name or address by means of the wording Dear + name (Dear…) or Hello/Hi+ name (Hello, ...) .

In oral speech, it is also considered the most acceptable treatment by name. In this case, the diminutive form of the name can also be used, as in Russian, for example:

Robert (Robert)	Rob(Rob)Bob (Bean) , BobbyBobby), Robbie(Robbie)
Susan(Susan)	Sue(Sue)

However, such forms do not exist for all names, and the treatment of naming the full name is still more common.

Another issue is that, unlike the Russian patronymic name, in English speaking countries people sometimes have several names, which is associated with the Catholic tradition of “tying” the name of the patron saint or some relative to one name. At the same time, there is no patronymic in English. But of the several names given to a person at baptism, the first one does not always become the one that a person perceives as the main thing and would like to be called that way. For example: William Bradley Pitt is better known as Brad Pitt.

But in order to avoid misunderstandings associated with addressing by name, it is worth checking with the interlocutor: “ What should I call you ?” "What should I call you?" .

Be courteous and friendly in communication and desired forms appeals will surely serve you in good stead.

In English, it is customary to address married women and girls differently. This culture took root in the 17th century, and is still preserved, despite the position modern society principle of gender equality.

Appeal in English miss or mrs

The norms of etiquette that have taken root in English speaking countries, prescribe to distinguish in speech and in writing appeals to women who have different social status. When a woman introduces herself in society, she says not only her first and last name. Rules good manners oblige her or the person who represents her to put before the name an appeal characterizing the marital status.

The status of a woman in Western society is usually denoted special word. In Russian culture, there are no analogues to such treatment, or they are extremely weakly expressed. Appeal to women with the designation of her status was characteristic of her title of nobility if she had it.

In general, this division of statuses is not typical for Russian culture, therefore the English “Miss” and “Mrs.” cannot be unambiguously compared with addresses in Russian speech.

In the English-speaking society, there are norms for the use of such addresses:

• Miss- an appeal to a girl, most often used in relation to young people under the age of 18. In addition, with the prefix Miss, you can refer to a teacher, saleswoman, maid. Also, this appeal is considered the most appropriate if the status of a woman is unknown.
• Mrs.- the traditional form of addressing a married lady. In this case, after the call, you can call as given name women, and the name of her husband. Divorced and widowed women use their maiden name and surname after missis.

Pronunciation

Miss in transcription looks like this:

The obsolete word Mistress, which is rarely used in oral communication, is pronounced like. More often this word has the meaning of "mistress", "mistress" or "mistress".

For example:

• Mistress of thesituation - Mistress of the situation.
• Costumemistress - Chief costumer.
• The dog ran alongside his mistress - The dog ran next to the mistress.

A derivative of Mistress, which eventually evolved into independent word missis is pronounced like this: . AT literal translation missis means "wife".

Usage

In English in oral speech miss appeals and mistress are used in specific situations:

• Miss - an appeal to an unmarried person or to a school teacher, regardless of her marital status, for example:

• He was finished at Miss A.'s - She was educated at Miss A.'s boarding house.
• Which Miss Smith do you mean? – Which Miss Smith do you mean?

• mistress or missis- the form courtesy to a married or divorced lady, as well as to a widow.

Examples of verbal appeals

On the letter, full addresses are not used, they are replaced by abbreviations:

• Miss- if it is known for sure that the lady is not married;
• Mrs- if there is confidence that the woman was married or married at the moment;
• Ms – polite form address in letters, which indicates that a person belongs to the female sex, but does not give direct instructions for marital status.

Accepted appeals in letters

• Dear Miss Jones! Dear Miss Jones!
• Dear Mrs. Wilson! Dear Mrs Wilson!
• Dear Ms. Smith! Dear Miss Smith!

Punctuation after abbreviation

It is customary to put punctuation marks after abbreviations in writing:

• Jane Johnson - Mrs. Jane Johnson
• John Kelly – Mrs John Kelly

After the word Miss, the dot is not put, as it is used long form the words:

• Miss Dana Simms - Miss Dana Simms.

Girls are different ... And appeals to them too. Let's take a look at the features English address to women of different social status, because the rules of good manners oblige us to know this.

AT Western culture when introducing a woman (in oral and written speech), it is customary to indicate not only her first and last name, but also her “status”. This status is usually denoted by a special word, which often acts as an appeal. There are no analogues of such treatment in Russian culture. Appeal to a woman with the designation of her status was typical for holders of a noble title. In general, this division of statuses is not typical for Russian culture, so the English “Miss” and “Mrs.” cannot be unambiguously compared with similar appeals to women in Russian culture.

The Miz[UK spelling], Ms. [ˈmɪz], , [ˈməz], [ˈməs]) - "Madam ...". This treatment is neutral in English-speaking countries. Ms is placed before the surname of both married and unmarried women, if her marital status is unknown or the woman deliberately emphasizes her equality with a man. This appeal appeared in the 1950s and came into use since the 1970s at the initiative of representatives of the feminist movement.

As The American Heritage Book of English Usage states, “Ms. eliminates the need to guess is the addressee Mrs. or Miss: using Ms., it is impossible to make a mistake. Whether the female addressee is married or not, whether she has changed her last name or not, the use of Ms. always correct." In my style guide The Times states: “Today, Ms is completely acceptable if a woman wants to be called that, or if it is not known exactly, Mrs. she or Miss. The Guardian, which uses "women's titles" exclusively in editorials, advises in its style guide to "use Ms for women...unless they have expressed a desire to use Miss or Mrs."

Appeal Ms. is the standard term for a woman, unless another preferred term is given to her. Per standard usage Ms. etiquette authors also perform, including Judith Martin (also known as "Miss Manners").

Appeal to an unmarried girl

Miss (Miss)- an English-language address to an unmarried woman. Is an abbreviation for mistress (obsolete form addressing a woman). It can be used before a surname or as a direct address. An analogue in Russian can be the word "girl" or the pre-revolutionary "lady" or "mademoiselle".

The address "miss" is also used in relation to the teacher, regardless of her marital status. This rule associated with a period when only unmarried women could engage in teaching activities.

Appeal to a married woman

Mrs (Mrs)- Appeal to a married woman. Addressing a woman using her husband's name is rare nowadays, although it is possible to address a couple jointly, such as Mr and Mrs John Smith. It is generally considered polite to address women as Miss (Ms.) rather than Mrs., especially if the woman's preference for addressing her is not known, especially when communicating in writing.

Punctuation after abbreviation

A period is put on the letter after the abbreviations:

• Dear Miss Jones! Dear Miss Jones!
• Dear Mrs. Wilson! Dear Mrs Wilson!
• Dear Ms. Smith! Dear Miss Smith!

If the appeal is written in full, then the point is not put:

• Miss Dana Simms - Miss Dana Simms.

Let's summarize:

• Ms- a polite form of addressing a woman in letters without a direct indication of marital status.
• Miss- Appeal to an unmarried woman.
• Mrs- Appeal to a married woman.

Adapted texts in English
Rhyming words in English
English female names

I am sure that you have heard the words miss and missis more than once. However, despite the fact that they are on everyone's lips, they are often confused and misused. Let's take a look at their difference.

Miss

Pronunciation and translation:

Miss / [miss] - miss

Meaning of the word:
young girl

Use:
Word miss we use when referring to a young (single) girl you don't know by name. For example: Excuse me, miss, can I borrow your pen?

In British colloquial English word miss is used by children when they talk to a teacher whether she is married or not. For example: May I go out, miss?

Example:

Could you help me miss?
Could you help me, miss?

I know the answer miss.
I know the answer, miss.

Mrs.

Pronunciation and translation:

Missis / missus / mrs [ˈmɪsɪz] / [misiz] - Mrs., mistress, wife

Meaning of the word:
Married woman

Use:
Word Missis(abbreviated mrs) we use when talking about a married girl or a girl who lives with a man. For example: We invited Mrs. Smith.

In British English, missis is used when you refer to a woman whose name you don't know. For example: I think you forgot your umbrella, Mrs.

Example:

how do you do, Mrs. Jones?
How are you, Mrs. Jones?

Mrs. Davis is very proud of her children.
Mrs. Davis is very proud of her children.

What is the difference?

Word miss we use when referring to a young (single) girl you don't know by name. Also in British colloquial English, the word miss is used by children when they talk to a teacher, whether she is married or not. For example: Have a seat, miss.

Word Missis we use when talking about a married girl or a girl who lives with a man. In British English, missis is used when you refer to a woman whose name you don't know. For example: Mr. and Mrs. Jones will come later.

Consolidation exercise

Paste correct word in the following suggestions. Leave your answers in the comments below the article.

1. ___ Smith is a wonderful wife.
2. Excuse me, ___, can I ask you?
3. Where is your ___, Tom?
4. ___ Jones is the most the best teacher.
5. Can I leave early, ___?
6. ___ Hudson supports her husband in everything.