Honorifics

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34106, 19 March 1976, Page 12

Honorifics

I Sir, —Today's item from - London about the agreement \ of Mr Speaker of the House / of Commons to address alt woman M.P. as “M stroke s, I i which I shall call Ms,” raises t ja small but potentially im- < ! portant point. If Ms, with or s without the stroke, be pro- i nounced “miz.” as in my ex- i perience it usually is. then it r clearly takes the indefinite s article “a.” If. however, Mr r Speaker's view is to prevail, I

we should refer to the per- i son preferring this mode of i address as "an” em-ess. To . save possible embarrassment, I we should perhaps scrap the i use of Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms 1 altogether and, taking the | cue from our broadcasters, : employ only given names, j Thus from our House of Re- ' presentatives we might some , day read: “Speaker Roy I called on Rob to retract his remarks about Bill and ruled that Emily’s reference to Susan’s hair-do was in contravention of Standing Orders.”—Yours, etc., GRAHAM RHIND. March 17, 1976. i<