Talk:Mrs.

message: From what I've been told while studying German, the distinction between 'Frau' and 'Fräulein' is based on age, not marital status.  Does anyone else know the current usage?
:At least in Germany Fräulein is hardly used anymore, people use Frau regardless of age or martial status. If used, Fräulein is used for an unmarried woman (regardless of her age) or a waitress (regardless of her martial status). It is also sometimes used for a minor women, but as soon as one is not sure if she is an adult, Frau is used. Since a woman may not marry in Germany before the age of 18, that also is a reference to her martial status, not really her age. --Smorg 11:59, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: "Martial" status? There's a good Freudian slip. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 17:26, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

text: The distinction is a little unclear, even for Germans. Probably because it is used for a woman, who is not yet considered an adult by whatever standards are/were applicable. But "Fräulein" has become very uncommon. My advice would be to not use it, since there are many now who consider "Fräulein" impolite or even insulting. --141.20.102.73 (talk) 14:08, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Non-English languages 

message: The unmarried form or Mr should clearly be Mist. 217.147.80.137 02:46, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Many women, especially in older generations, retain the "Mrs." after they've been widowed, for some degree of protection. Like retaining their husband's name in the phone directory, to lessen the possibility of harassment. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 17:29, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

text: In the US, titles are purely social, not specified by law. Miss Manners, Emily Post, etc. have stated that, according to standard etiquette, a widow who has, during her marriage, chosen to be addressed as Mrs. John Doe should still be addressed that way. They've had to state this strongly because of the many busybodies who tell widows they have to stop wearing their wedding rings and change the way they're adddressed. Yes, a woman can use any title (Miss, Ms., Mrs., Princess, etc.) she wants. However, just as there are jerks who refuse to call a woman Ms. Maidenname, there are also jerks who start calling a widow by a name and title she doesn't want (actually, they're usually the same jerks, because they're eager to disrespect women either way). Ariadne55 (talk) 18:09, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, those are normal rules of etiquette, which is obviously not legally binding; and a believer in etiquette would also take the time to find out how someone wants to be addressed rather than imposing his viewpoint on the matter. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 23:47, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

text: I'm reminded of the old TV quiz show, What's My Line?, in which everyone called each other Mr., Mrs. or Miss rather than by their first names - and when a female guest would enter, host John Daly would always ask, "Is it Miss or Mrs.?" That was long before "Ms." was in common usage, of course. Anyway, they don't do quiz shows that way any more - it's all on a first-name basis, like they were old friends or something. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 23:51, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Marital Status 

message: This page didn't address the one reason I came here. I need a definitive answer, if you don't know a woman's marital status, how should you address her?
*If marital status is unknown, Ms. should be used. MlleDiderot 04:09, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  marital status unknown 

message: shouldnt this article be entitled Misses instead of Mrs.? Mrs. is the abbreviation for Misses and it would be proper it the page were titled that.
*Well, it might be - except that Mrs is a contraction of Mistress. Snalwibma 06:25, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Title of article? 

message: This Ms. page states that Ms. is considered the default business standard (overridden if the woman is known to prefer Mrs./Miss) but this page implies that only a few women go with "Ms." and the majority use the more traditional forms.  I'm inclined to believe the Ms. page based on personal experience, but are there significant regional differences in Mrs./Ms. usage? MlleDiderot 04:13, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradictions with Miss/Ms. pages? 

message: The plural of mister is messrs. What is the plural of mrs? --Camaeron (talk) 20:29, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Plural

message: According to wikipedia guidlines this page ought to be moved to "Mrs" (no full stop/period) as most English-Speaking countries use this form...--Camaeron (talk) 16:52, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Would you care to point out that guideline? I believe most people in the English speaking world use the full stop anyway. A count of a bunch of small countries doesn't seem to trump a half a billion other people, IMHO.Njsustain (talk) 18:26, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Move to Mrs

message: It seems to me that much of this article is taken from sources describing proper etiquette, and there is a great deal of information about actual usage that is missing. For example, the statement that Mrs. is only used when the woman takes the husband's last name: I have specific knowledge of one married woman that use Mrs. but does not use her husband's last name. Therefore, that generalization is false. There is a similar problem with the statement that "few married women choose Mrs. in professional life", although at least that statement is weaseled out of being a generalization with the word "few" (although I would argue that the weasel word should be "many"). 
I came to Wikipedia to find out how the term "Mrs." is actually used, not how some individual, or rather, organization decided it should be used. 69.95.235.226 (talk) 19:54, 27 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Etiquette vs. Actual Usage 

message: I thought Mz. was an uncommon but acceptable title as well.  Is this not the case?  At the very least, I think the article should mention it, even just to say that it is not used.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.3.198.108 (talk) 15:57, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a link to Ms. and other social titles at the bottom. Ariadne55 (talk) 18:24, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mz. is used also, is it not?  

message: The Missus dominicus, commonly known as a missus, was an important Carolingian office used throughout the empire to disseminate the king's orders and to represent him. Could this article possibly have a link to it? 'Missus' is the usual word used to refer to one of these people. fluoronaut (talk) 08:50, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The article has several similar hatnotes under which that could be added. It could be phrased "Missus" redirects here. For the Carolingian officials, see Missus dominicus. Ariadne55 (talk) 13:40, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Medieval official 

message: WP:MOS suggests that the instances of "Mrs" and "Mistress" etc. should be Mrs and Mistress and so on. Would I be wrong to alter these, i.e., to change quotations marks to italics? --beefyt (talk) 17:02, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Style and italics 

message: The assertion in the first sentence that the full stop following Mrs is a cultural typography is incorrect. There is no convention in the U.S. concerning the full stop, at least not amongst style guides or typography texts. There is a convention amongst typographers not to use a full stop following an abbreviation ending in the same letter as the full word. Mrs and Mr (as well as Dr) each end in the same letter as the unabbreviated form, therefore may be written without the full stop. In comparison, Prof. would be written with a full stop. The only reference given for the assertion in the text is to the article on Abbreviations, which itself is lacking in references.--88.64.20.78 (talk) 00:06, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It is standard in the US to use a period after Mrs., Ms., and Dr. Your claim that there is no such convention is rubbish. Njsustain (talk) 21:10, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Full stop is not cultural 

message: My dictionary (Webster's New College World) agrees that the plural of Mrs. is "Mesdames", which also functions as the plural of "Madam" and "Madame".  It gives the pronunciation as  much like in French, but I can't say I've once heard anyone actually pronounce it that way (or any way, that matter) as the plural of "Mrs."  Comments? Benwing (talk) 06:25, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  pronunciation of "Mesdames"? 

message: I added the normal pronunciation of this word, and then noticed that  removed it long ago, claiming there were numerous regional pronunciations.  Maybe, but that is a poor reason for not providing the standard pronunciation, given that there is one, and every dictionary will agree on it. Benwing (talk) 06:29, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  pronunciation 

message: I note that the old custom of taking your husband's name in formal references gets more confusing with the recent emergence of lesbian and gay marriage. Take, for example, Portia de Rossi, who has taken her wife's surname, DeGeneris. So wouldn't both of them properly be "Mrs. Ellen DeGeneris", under the old system? And, if so, who could tell which person was which if one were to type up a formal letter? 198.151.130.41 (talk) 20:16, 17 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I suppose that the couple would be called "Mrs. and Mrs. DeGeneris" in proper company. Or "Mrs. de Rossi and Mrs. DeGeneris". Too bad there's no corresponding title for a husband that's distinctive from that for a bachelor. 198.151.130.41 (talk) 20:20, 17 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: One may use one's common-sense and see that the old style of reference does not contain the slightest idea about how to treat a "lesbian and gay marriage". The obvious solution, thus, is to keep the names as they are, and if one takes the name of the other, to treat it as a name-change (i. e. as if she had been born with the name). If you are a gay marriage opponent, you would stick to "Miss", such as indicating your opinion that marital status hasn't changed; if you are a gay marriage proponent, I presume you would take "Mrs." - but, seriously, you would take the person's actual first name, so as not to sound ridiculous. (If you are a gay marriage opponent but fear court action, I guess you would go for "Ms".)--2001:A61:20DA:5C01:4D4E:B912:D2FB:F9C3 (talk) 00:12, 12 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Under the old style of references, would Portia de Rossi be "Mrs. Ellen DeGeneris"? 

message: I think what is intended is "referred to as," not "addressed."  I don't think Mrs. John Smith would ever have been addressed as "John."  She would either be addressed as "Mrs. Smith" or, if by someone on a first-name basis with her, as "Jane" (or "Hortense," or whatever). Kostaki mou (talk) 00:35, 20 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  It is now very uncommon for a woman to be addressed using her husband's first name 

message: The article lacks sufficient context to be recognised as a subject to have an article of its own.  SAMI  talk 10:42, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: It looks like this proposal is stale and has strong opposition. If someone is keen, then a merge elsewhere might be better, like matchmaking. Klbrain (talk) 10:18, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed merge with [[MRS Degree]] 

message: Ghsfh 88.210.91.197 (talk) 19:35, 8 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ggrsvbf