To my ancient ears, Ms still sounds like 'Miss' and it feels strange addressing an unknown woman in such a way.
Is that really the correct way to do it nowadays?
Also, while we're on the subject, how do you end your formal emails?
According to everything I'm reading on the internets, the correct term of address for an unknown man in 2017 is still Mr , but for an unknown woman it is now Ms .
Given the massive range of types of address I seem to receive these days, I don't think anyone pays too close attention, but...
I tend to go with Mr or Mrs (I don't use Ms purely because it just doesn't cross my mind) but find that if the email is going to the English speaking world, the reply email nearly always comes back with a first name sign off so then we are off and running with "Dear Firstname" from then on.
As for sign off, I have fallen into the trap of the "Best regards" for 90% of my emails, stopping short of the toe-curling "Kind regards" .
For extremely formal emails or ones where I need to treat the person with kid gloves, I sign off with "Yours sincerely".
I always use Ms, because that's what I prefer myself. Of course we all know me to be a radical feminist (as freakin if..... ).
It is odd though because there is no foreign equivalent....i'm quite used to Frau, Madame, etc.
I'd end with yours sincerely.
And of course, your capitalization is far better than mine.
Good luck!
Thank you both!
I seem to be doing the right thing, mostly...
I often use MS despite being of the bloke persuasion
Then again, it is my initials.
Way before chip and PIN, one card caused me problems with "MS GBN" when signing for stuff.
I don't recall the last time I opened an email with Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms. In French or German things are different, of course, so it the recipient is Swiss (or French or German) and not personally known to me then I'll go with the normal term in their language even if we're communicating in English, e.g. 'Dear Frau Muller'.
But for native English speakers I think it's acceptable to informalise things from the outset, so they tend nearly always to start with 'Hi Firstname'.
As for Ms vs. Mrs., if I were to use the terms, it would be Mrs if I knew someone to be married, Ms if I did not. Miss somehow sounds like an anachronism these days.
Always Ms. unless the person refers to themselves as Mrs. I personally do not like being referred to as Mrs. and prefer Ms.
If I have corresponded with a helpful person a number of times via email, I put *With thanks* at the end my mail. Otherwise it is plain Regards or Best regards..
Agree with SG, Kind regards annoys me to no end.
If you don't know a woman's marital status, I would use Ms.
Calling a woman Mrs when they are a Miss isn't great, think Dick Emery (if you are old enough).
Well just learnt something new here, this was the way I was taught at school (ok, ok that was a few decades ago) So in future I'll refrain from 'kind regards' and will use the other suggested ideas! THANKS!
Seems to be that nowadays, in emails, the most frequently used form is "Enlarge your... Ms".
And it usually ends into click here to find out more!
To me, always Ms. I don't see why marital status has to matter.
It doesn't for men.
Back of the net, Ms Marple.. lovely jubbly
Darling
- next
end with
Boomshanka
May the seed of your loin etc etc.
Hallelujah Sista!
I remember the days when Ms was the chosen reference for some lesbians. Those days are long gone. I'm divorced, so refuse to be refered to as Mrs, but I was married, so Miss is inappropriate. Ms cuts out all the implications about a woman's marital status. However, as Swiss people refer to all adult women as Frau, they do tend to say Mrs when speaking English, so I accept it from them.
Ms is also a safe bet seeing as there is a growing trend for woman to not take their husbands name when they marry. The most recent ones amongst my close circle are a Hindu friend in the UK and our niece in Athens. It's not something that's set in stone, but they embrace that they have the choice. We attended both weddings, and it was me that was surprised at their decision. It met no resistance from the older generations of their families.
Kind regards was company policy on my work emails and part of the preset signature.
Funnily enough, in French Mademoiselle (Ms) has now disappeared from all official communication, and is almost never used anymore, as it was deemed sexist. All woman are Madame (Mrs) in French!
A possibly very stupid question from the Swissie here.
'Mrs' is short for Mistress and pronounced 'Missis' or similarly and ewuals the High German 'Frau'.
'Miss' of course is clear to me, and is our Fräulein
But what is then Ms short for and if, how would that be pronounced?
"Kind regards" is perhaps a bit old fashioned and had its place when addressing relatives or dear friends in written correspondence way back when, so from that point of view is not as toe-curling as I make out in my earlier post.
It just has no place in formal or business type emails (well, in my opinion) but in recent history it has found its way into many companies' accepted practice.
Me and my best mate were classmates throughout school, including French and German classes. On my first trip back to the UK after moving to Switzerland, she was shocked to hear that Fräulein and Mademoiselle had fallen out of favour, and ß (Eszett) was not used in Swiss German.
I don't really know to be honest. I've heard muzzz muss and even marsss.
Oye you gissa job should do the trick.