MISS” OR "MRS?”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20509, 29 August 1936, Page 11

MISS” OR "MRS?”

A BAFFLING QUESTION What to call married women who continue using their maiden names has become nothing short of a problem. When are they Mrs? When are they Miss? Why, after months or years of domestic bliss does "Miss Smith” suddenly, for a briew moment, decide to call herself by the name of the man she married? asks a New York correspondent of the Associated Press. Miss Dorothy Thompson, the writer brought the whole baffling question into the spotlight recently when she

attended one of Mrs Roosevelt’s luncheons under her married name, Mrs Sinclair Lewis. Fannie Hurst, the novelist, is a fairly frequent visitor at the White House, and’ she never goes as Mrs Jacques Danielson. Nor does the Secretary of Labour, Frances Perkins, call herself Mrs Paul Wilson —which she is—at Mrs Roosevelt’s luncheons ©r elsewhere in Washington. Matrons young and old are atter ding luncheons, writing, painting, acting, singing, lecturing, and swimming under the names they were born with. Katharine Cornell (Mrs Guthrie M'Clintic), Ishbel Ross (Mrs Bruce Rae), Lynn Fontanne (Mrs Alfred Lunt), and Joan Bennett (Mrs Gene Markey) are just a few of them. A few husbands of women in this vast and growing category were sounded out on the question. Their response was, in effect, “We don’t mind—much.” They do, it was explained, feel faintly cheated out of the right of endowing the chosen lady with their own proud name and having her use it. But their pain and anguish are mitigated somewhat by the fact that the ambitious little woman who still calls herself Miss is usually bringing home a pay cheque. THAT TIRESOME STUD! The men of the family are scrambling into gala dress too, now the tine of big dances is here. Often they have difficulty in slipping the studs intc stiff dress shirtfronts, after a visit to the laundry. To overcome his, try moistening a very small piece of cotton wool, and passing it carefully over the wrong side of the hole. This will moisten the starch a trifle, and enable the stud to be slipped through. Care must be taken not to spoil the effect by having the cotton wool too wet; wring it out nearly FASHIONS IN WORDS There have been many fashions in catch-words during the past few years. Michael Arlen is generally credited with having popularised the “making” craze, which swept England, carrying before it a tide of “sick-making.” “bore-making,” and so on, and which finally reached Australia some years later. The American craze followed, and still lingers a little. The correct reply to the majority of observations was, “You’re telling me,” or "Oh, yeah?” Later came the more sophisticated and baffling, “So what?” and “Or else . . .” Then came “definitely.” “Is she goodlooking?” "Definitely.” One heard it everywhere, and used entirely without discrimination. After a few months, many people writhed at the sound of the word and strong men blanched. "Definitely” is now dead, and we are bankrupt. There is no popular catch-word at the moment. “Wizard” is out of date; “cracker” (as an adjective) is unfashionable. We are waiting for something new. Some people have little private vocabularies. For instance, the other day at Bowral, I heard Miss Suzanne Stogdale. of Double Bay, remark that the weather was “parkey,” meaning cold says a writer in the Sydney Morning Herald. I racked my brain to think where T had last heard the word, and remembered that it was when Miss Stogdale used it on a previous occasion. Miss Nea Arnott, of Strathfield, in moments of stress, ejaculates “Crisis,” an apt and unusual expression. At the moment, these are only two individual little vocabularies I cal call to mind.