Don’t think it would happen anywhere Daemon.
As a point of interest, I always used the approach when writing :-
Miss, for a young unmarried girl/woman.
Ms, for a more mature unmarried woman, (a spinster) and therefore not necessarily divorced.
Kitos.
Ms. = “mizz”. A “Z” sound…like in zipper
Mrs. = “missus”
Miss = miss
I know that when I’m speaking, I use the correct pronunciation.
Hi!! I just wanted to add that I do not think any of the forms could really offend any woman. I use “Ms” for myself, as I am married- however I have kept my maiden name. So, I am not technically a Miss anymore, and I am not a Mrs either, since I do not have my husband’s last name. Traditionally, Miss is used for an unmarried woman and Mrs for a married woman who takes her husband’s last name, that is why it is for example “Mr and Mrs John Smith”(formal).“Ms” can be conveniently used in all other cases:) where the marital status of a female is not clear or kept “strictly confidential”
so to speak.
‘ms’ may be the form one should use nowadays. The married-unmarried distiction is given only to the woman and not to the man. So it is better to stop using miss and mrs and use only ms recognizing woman’s equality with man and her importance in society.
Historically, women were considered auxiliary persons. Their titles meant the daughter of (Miss Smith) or the wife of (Mrs. John Smith). Their social status was entirely dependent on their marital status. It was not so with men. Patriarchal society, you know.
How do you propose to address a woman if you know that she is Mary Smith, but do not know her marital status? I think, Ms. is a very practical solution here.
I need to know how to address the mother-of-the-bride in a wedding invitation. The bride’s parents are divorced and the mother is divorced for the second time.
As far as I know miss is a woman who has never been married.
I don’t like to be called miss…
/Maria
Nowadays I don’t know anyone from my generation who uses these titles except in formal writing, with a mock surname such as “Mrs Clever”, or by people in a subservient role. In my kids’ school the children address the teachers using their first name only, no titles.
My mother would be furious if someone were to call her Ms. “How dare they address me as though I were someone who would wish to cloak my civil status”.
I am Miss Honey 
Can someone help please! I have several employee’s writing reports and using Ms for every female. I was not comfortable with it and did some checking and found its an accepted practice. Trouble I have is they use it for everything…mothers and daughters in same paragraph for example. They also start with Mrs. and switch to Ms. Both make the reports very confusing. Are they correct in the usage as described above, if not what is standard?
thanks for your comment,
Use of ‘Ms’ in these days of gender equality has become prevalent. The argument is that ‘Mr’ has no married or unmarried distinction, so there should be a female equivalent with no married/unmarried distinction. It is obviously useful in cases where you don’t know the marital status of the woman. Women who have been married and are now single again through divorce may also prefer ‘Ms’
Traditionally:
Mr - married or unmarried man
Mrs - married woman
Miss - unmarried woman
The politically correct version:
Mr - married or unmarried man
Ms - married or unmarried woman.
Whether you use ‘Ms’ or ‘Mrs/Miss’ I can guarantee you won’t please everyone. Different women have different preferences, but as you have discovered, either version is fine, even when speaking about mothers and daughters. However, good practice would be that the terms aren’t interchangeable. If you begin a report using ‘Mrs’, then the person should be referred to as ‘Mrs’ throughout.
Hi, everyone!
This is an old topic, but I hope there is someone who can help me with this.
I once read somewhere that titles should be used either with someone’s last name or with someone’s first and last name, but I was told today that it should actually be used with a person’s last name or their full name. Is it really incorrect to use title + first and last name or it’s just that it isn’t that common?
Thanks a lot in advance!
It’s okay to use a title with a first and last name.
What is not correct is using a title with only a first name.