Who are Mrs. and Miss. What is the difference between Miss, Mrs, Mister

English words are increasingly being used by people who speak Russian. Often we also have to communicate with foreigners. And here the question arises of how it is more appropriate to name a particular woman. Indeed, in English-speaking countries, two options are used: "Miss" and "Mrs." There really is a difference between these appeals, let's try to figure it out in detail.

A bit of history

In English-speaking countries, previously married ladies were addressed mistress ("mistress") - in the literal translation "housewife", "owner of the house". At the same time, the surname and first name of the husband were initially added to the appeal. A little later, women were allowed to add their initials after the word "mistress" in official documents. The husband's surname was kept. Later, around the 17th century, the “Miss” and “Mrs.”, familiar to us today, came into use. The difference between them was that the first appeal is for unmarried girls, and the second one is for married women. They are used today, and many of the fair sex are proud of their social status and can be seriously offended by an accidental mistake in a conversation. It turns out that the difference between Miss and Mrs is whether a woman has a spouse. Accordingly, a lady of respectable age can also be a “girl”, provided that she has not married or divorced.

Exceptions to the rule

The address "Miss" is permissible to use only with the maiden name. Suppose, if a woman is divorced, she herself decides how she will introduce herself and sign official documents. There are two options: either "Mrs" with the surname of the ex-husband, or "Miss" with the maiden name. In the event of the death of a spouse, a widow should be addressed in the same way as during her marriage. An interesting fact: teachers in educational institutions should always be addressed as "miss", regardless of their social status. These standard words can be avoided if the woman has a special title, such as "lady" or "doctor". In this case, "Miss" and "Mrs." are inappropriate. The difference between marital status pales before a professional definition or a high title.

Who is "Miz" (Ms.)

In the middle of the 20th century, a neutral appeal to women “miz” appeared in America, which did not allow determining their marital status. It is believed that it was invented by feminists in the struggle for gender equality. Today it is officially used in relation to secretaries and some other office workers. In a business environment, the words "Miss" and "Mrs." are rarely used. The difference between these concepts can be important for the woman herself, and then she uses the correct respectful address to herself, introducing herself when meeting. But today, more and more often you can meet the fair sex, who quite like the universal "miz".

Reminds me of a joke:

Introduce me to this charming Miss!

But, sir, she was married!

Well, introduce me to this worthy Mrs!

But, sir, she has buried her fourth husband and is now in mourning...

Okay, damn it, finally introduce me to this Mississippi!

English humor however... But every joke has its share of... jokes - the rest is true. The complex system of English etiquette very clearly regulates how a woman should be addressed depending on her social status and, of course, marital status. English language scholars argue that the division of address into "Mrs" for married women and "Miss" for girls only began in the 17th century.

"Mrs" and "Miss" are respectful addresses for women in English-speaking countries. “Miss” refers to a girl, “Mrs” refers to a married woman. As a rule, this is a general address and is used if a woman does not have other titles - for example, Lady or Doctor.

According to tradition, the appeal "Mrs" is most often used in combination with the husband's first and last name.(e.g. "Mrs. John Smith"). Today, married women keep their first name, but with their husband's last name. That is, "Mrs. John Smith" becomes "Mrs. Elizabeth Smith." The widow retains her married name, but may also be referred to not only as "Mrs. John Smith" but also as "Mrs. Elizabeth Smith."

Divorced ladies retain their husband's surname and "Mrs."- Mrs Elizabeth Smith. Today, the rules have been relaxed, and a divorced woman can take her maiden name, but remain "Mrs."

Interestingly, schoolteachers, whether married or not, are referred to as "Miss." The tradition has been preserved since the days when only unmarried women could work.

Differentiated respectful treatment is common in almost all European countries. Married women are called madam in France, in Spain - señora, in Germany - frau, in Sweden - fru, in the Czech Republic - pani. Due to the high status of this form in Europe, it has become the norm to refer to a colleague as a married woman, unless she herself emphasizes that she is "Miss" or "Fräulein". In Britain, this approach has been used for a long time to communicate with professionals - for example, housekeepers, cooks and nannies, who are called "Mrs" as a sign of respect, regardless of their marital status.

But feminism is marching on the earth - horses must be stopped, and the huts are burning down, so in Europe women wanted asexual conversion, so to speak, "unisex" - Ms. ("The Miz"). The UN advised the use of this sexless "Miz" as early as 1974. Yet most women outside the militant feminist group still emphasize their status as a married woman with "Mrs" and other accepted respectful addresses.

In conclusion, I would like to write a couple of lines about Russia. Rather, about Russian married women. How are they addressed? For example, depending on the circumstances, they addressed me: “Madam”, “Madam”, “Girl”, “Respected”, “Lady”, “Mother” (some homeless people), “Woman”, “Citizen”, "hostess", "mother" (in the children's clinic) and even "comrade". Everything somehow sounds artificial, absurd, and sometimes rude and does not fall like a gentle trill in the ear. So the question of choosing an address to a Russian married woman remains open.

MISSIS, or MISTRIS is the same as the French "madame" when referring to a married Englishwoman, that is, madam, madam. A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. Popov M., 1907. Mrs. (English mistress) in English ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

MRS., uncl., female. (English mistress, pronounced Mrs.). The name of an untitled married woman and the form of address to her in England, America; the same as the lady in tsarist Russia. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Madam, appeal Dictionary of Russian synonyms. mrs n., number of synonyms: 3 mrs (27) mistress ... Synonym dictionary

MRS., uncl., female. In English-speaking countries: a polite address to a married woman (usually before the name, surname). Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Mrs.- madam - [A.S. Goldberg. English Russian Energy Dictionary. 2006] Topics energy in general Synonyms Mrs. EN MistressMrs ... Technical Translator's Handbook

Exist., f., use. often In English-speaking countries, the word Mrs. is a form of polite address for a married woman, which is used before the name or surname. Mrs Higgins. Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Dmitriev. D.V. Dmitriev. 2003 ... Dictionary of Dmitriev

Mrs.- neskl., f. In England and America: addressing or politely referring to a married woman, usually used before a family name. Mrs Stuart. Etymology: From English missis ‘Mrs’, ‘Madam’ (← mistress ‘mistress’, ‘mistress’) … Popular dictionary of the Russian language

Multiple f.; = mistress Used as a form of address or a form of polite reference to a married woman in English-speaking countries, usually attached to a surname or given name. Explanatory Dictionary of Efremova. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

Mrs.- Mr. issis, non-squel., well ... Russian spelling dictionary

Mrs.- neskl., well ... Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language

Books

Mrs. Poe, Cullen Lynn. A spicy love story in gothic settings. The great American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, his young wife Virginia and the poetess Francis Osgood - a love triangle born ...
Mrs. Poe, Cullen L.. A spicy love story in a gothic setting. The great American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, his young wife Virginia and the poetess Francis Osgood - a love triangle born ...

How to address an unfamiliar lady in Russia? There is no universal appeal: a girl, a young lady - everyone uses these and other options in accordance with their own taste. For foreigners, things are somewhat better with this: Fröken and Frau in Sweden, Fraulein and Frau in Germany, Senorita and Senora in Spain, Mademoiselle and Madame in France, Miss and Mrs in England, USA, Australia, Canada and a number of others. There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two words. And yet there are nuances that are not known to everyone.

It would seem, why so strictly separate Mrs. and Miss? The difference is in two letters, and there are a lot of questions. What is the best way to address a stranger? A large number of doubts arise when it comes not to personal communication, but to business correspondence.

The difference between Miss and Mrs is that the former is applied to unknown young and unmarried women, while the latter is only applied to married and widowed women. "Mrs" can be called an older lady if there is no certainty in her marital status.

When a surname is added to the address, you need to carefully choose between "Mrs" and "Miss". The difference is the same - However, in this case, the ladies are a little more likely to be offended if you say "Mrs" to an unmarried woman. Therefore, in case of any doubt, it is better to use the "girlish" option. In extreme cases, you can apologize and make some nice compliment.

As for here, the situation has long been simpler, since the neutral version of "Ms" is increasingly being used, which does not focus on the marital status of the interlocutor. Although in some

In cases, which will be discussed a little later, "Miss" and "Mrs." are also used in official letters. There is a difference here as well, although the neutral "Ms." is generally used. or "Ms" - the presence or absence of a dot depends on whether the correspondence is being conducted with a European or an American.

And yet in some cases marital status can and should be emphasized. This is done, for example, in official invitations to some events when they are intended

the whole family. Then there is the enumeration: Mr, Mrs and Miss, if we are talking about a man, his wife and daughter. Obviously, in such cases, the use of a neutral address is absolutely inappropriate, it will be more organic to look exactly like "Mrs" and "Miss". The difference between this and other cases is that here the emphasis on kinship and marital status of ladies is absolutely natural.

But perhaps in the future, something neutral will be used in these cases, as feminist sentiments are raging in Europe. Women are not inclined to advertise their marital status, therefore they consider the use of separate appeals to married and unmarried ladies to be sexism. Last year, France banned the use of "mademoiselle" in official documents, which was replaced by "madame."

So, in the addresses "Mrs" and "Miss" the difference is still quite large. And the point here is not in the marital status, but rather in the attitude of those around him. In the future, perhaps, there will still be one thing left not only in business correspondence, but also in personal communication, but for now it remains to puzzle over which word is still better to use.

Many of us confuse the addresses Miss and Mrs. How they differ and to whom they relate, we will now understand this. And we will also plunge into the history of these appeals, for a better understanding of the essence of these titles for women. Mrs in English sounds like " mistress“, which literally means “mistress”.

History of the origin of "Miss" and "Mrs"

Miss has a multi-layered history. The meanings of the word "mistress" from the Oxford Dictionary are defined by the following meanings:

The woman in charge.
Qualified woman.
Woman teacher.
Beloved or mistress.

The definitions of the meaning of the word are a striking example of the evolution of address towards women. At the end of the eighteenth century, unmarried women in old age in society were equated with married women, calling them all the same Mrs, which has become a tradition to this day.

Gradually, the girls changed from miss to miss when they entered adulthood, or after the death of their mother. The process of change can be traced in the literary use of the authors of those times. Until the beginning of the eighteenth century there was no form of address preceding the name. But already from the middle of the eighteenth century, "miss" began to be used rather as a pejorative, as village boys addressed their mistresses.

The author of the famous diary of daily life in London during the Stuart Restoration, Samuel Pepys, clearly used "little miss" only for girls.

In letters from 1754, miss appears as a common form of address, perhaps even to teenagers.

Between 1695 and 1706, a high percentage of the remaining unmarried women were stigmatized with the phrase "old maid", and in colloquial situations "maiden" was used. Thus, concern was expressed about the decrease in the number of marriages. But this craze for encouraging marriage seems too far in time to inspire the nickname Miss. Moreover, its use was socially limited.

However, Miss's appeal to adult women did coincide with the increase in London's population. The distinction based on marriage may have been adopted from the French. During the long eighteenth century, lower-middle-class French women were described as "mademoiselle," regardless of marital status.

Active use of appeals in society

It is worth noting that the popularization of the address "Miss" was facilitated by the industrial boom. The expansion of the spheres in which women were involved, the increase in communication links and involvement in social processes, contributed to a change in the perception of the role of women in society. According to some sources, the distinction between "Miss" and "Mrs" arose as an implicit definition of sexually available women, when a large number of them went to work in factories. Much more mundane explanations are that it was a fashion of eighteenth century literati who became obsolete and gradually expanded its social application to become part of English culture.

Miss seems to be one of the few words in describing English women that has successfully elevated the quality of his status—from being defined as frivolous ladies to being treated in high society.

Long-term use of "Mrs." Generally, women who were referred to as "madam" and "lady" in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were called "Mrs" by the eighteenth century. "Madame" remained in use into the eighteenth century, at least outside of London.

The association of Mrs. with business can be seen in the surviving archival censuses taken in the market town of Essex of Boking in 1793. Among the 650 families, fifty were headed by men who received the title of Mister. These people were farmers, grocers, millers, manufacturers and other significant traders. Twenty-five of the women heading their households were named Mrs. Nearly two-thirds of these titled Mrs., were identified in business. On rare occasions, Mrs. appears in the records of business companies, usually it is clear from the context that its use denotes social rather than marital status.

The story presents conflicting explanations for the introduction of the address "Miss". One of them is that women are tired of identifying themselves with men.

In the twentieth and twenty-first century, the use of "Mrs" has more often created confusion. For example, the editor, Mary Wortley, corrected Mrs. to Miss, in order to avoid the erroneous opinion of readers that the correspondent was married.
Throughout the period, England was the only country in Europe in which married women, usually taking their husbands' surnames, were a kind of hostage to the characteristic regime of matrimonial property. But then, she was entitled to the social status of a Mrs, which is accompanied by her own name and her husband's surname.

Whereas the form "Miss" was even desirable for some segments of the population.

Miss and Mrs, our days

In the twentieth century, "Mrs" and "Miss" acquired their final statuses, which determine whether a woman is married or not when addressing. As for the definition of "miss", it is also worth noting that this is a common address if a person does not want to focus on their marital status.