Re:That wild Ask a Manager story
by dredmorbius on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @01:35PM
(#30350690)
Some of us are still old enough to remember when "Ms." was a contentious or at least novel title, though few are old enough to have seen its original proposal in 1901.
The New York Times formally adopted use of "Ms." as a title, distinct from "Mrs." (a married woman, often referred to by her husband's full name, e.g., "Mrs. John Q. Smith"), or "Miss" (an unmarried woman or girl, addressed by her given and maiden names, "Miss Jane Q. Jones"). Ms. Magazine was a direct and deliberate challenge to that practice, and was launched in 1971 by Gloria Steinem. Interestingly, all three words, "miss, "missus", and "mizz" originate from "mistress", which was at one time the single title applied to any woman, adult or child, married or not.
(For men, the terms "Master" (unmarried child) and "Mister" were both represented as "Mr.".)
And then as now, "Ms." resulted in much gnashing of teeth, changing of forms, and updating of databases.
The New York Times formally adopted use of "Ms." as a title, distinct from "Mrs." (a married woman, often referred to by her husband's full name, e.g., "Mrs. John Q. Smith"), or "Miss" (an unmarried woman or girl, addressed by her given and maiden names, "Miss Jane Q. Jones"). Ms. Magazine was a direct and deliberate challenge to that practice, and was launched in 1971 by Gloria Steinem. Interestingly, all three words, "miss, "missus", and "mizz" originate from "mistress", which was at one time the single title applied to any woman, adult or child, married or not.
(For men, the terms "Master" (unmarried child) and "Mister" were both represented as "Mr.".)
And then as now, "Ms." resulted in much gnashing of teeth, changing of forms, and updating of databases.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25FOB-onlanguage...