Etiquette question - I'm unsure...

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skiprat

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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What is the correct way to address a lady in a formal ( but not business) letter, where you don't know if she is married or not? Do you assume 'Mrs' or Miss or Ms.??:confused:

I know that if she replies and uses here first name without any of the abbreviations in the signature then I can continue to use that, but I haven't got a clue for the first instance.

I'd ask my wife, but she's at work and can't take calls.

Thanks
 
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Ms. is the modern day acceptable form of address.


Now if the lady to whom you refer is actually royalty and carries the title "Lady", then you would address her as as "Madam" in formal correspondence. In speech she would be addressed as "Lady" (insert last name) at first introduction and as "my lady" for the rest of the conversation.
 
Thanks guys!!:biggrin: I'll go with Ms now, thanks again.

I'm already acquanted with royalty :redface: I call her....'Yes Dear':biggrin:
 
I usually open with "Yo Baby!" because the resultant response leaves little doubt as to where I stand....

;)

Gary

P.S. Yep, "Ms." has replaced both "Miss" and "Mrs" in polite correspondence.
 
Interesting question, i have wondered the same on several occasion...cut/pasted your question into Google...Ms. is correct according to wikipedia...other links provided by Google were interesting comments...
 
I'm old fashioned and use Mrs. in all correspondence including email unless I'm informed otherwise.

Never have been corrected or told to use Ms.

Just my two cents worth not trying to stir up any pot, just my opinion.
 
Steven, One observation: Americans don't do English, well. While "Ms." fits our liberated women, I have no idea whether the British ladies have a different favorite. Might try "Your honor" since they "stand in judgment" of men anyhow!!
 
How about just walking up and introducing yourself and see what she uses as an intro to you. Again, it may not be appropriate for this venue but I'm not sure. As a word of caution,"Hey tuuts" is usually a poor way to start any conversation.

Where I was taught to start a conversation with a women, we would normally open with "Maam".
 
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LOL, I'm very suprised that half of you guys are still married!!!:biggrin:
Either that, or you don't let your wife anywhere near the the computor when you're blogging:rolleyes::biggrin:


wolftat said:
How about just walking up and introducing yourself and see what she uses as an intro to you. Again, it may not be appropriate for this venue but I'm not sure. As a word of caution,"Hey tuuts" is usually a poor way to start any conversation.

Where I was taught to start a conversation with a women, we would normally open with "Maam".
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That's exactly what I would have done, but this was a letter. I also still use the 'Ma'am' when face to face though.:wink:
 
From Wiki

American
The American Heritage Book of English Usage states that: "Using Ms. obviates the need for the guesswork involved in figuring out whether to address someone as Mrs. or Miss: you can't go wrong with Ms. Whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not, Ms. is always correct."[15]

In business, "Ms." is the standard default title for women until or unless an individual makes another preference known, and this default is also becoming more common socially. The default use of Ms. is also championed by a number of etiquette writers, including Judith Martin (a.k.a. "Miss Manners").[16]
 
skiprat said:
LOL, I'm very suprised that half of you guys are still married!!!
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My wife has a better sense of humor than she is a good judge of character. lol. I'm acually surprised YOU are still married given that you are asking people how to write a letter to a woman you dont know, and your wife is "unavailable" to ask. We see whats going on here. You rat, you.
 
Hey Skippy . If you follow the advice of some of this lot , please send me the address of the prison and your cell block number so I can write to you . :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
LOL Butch, I would but I think that if I followed some of the advice then I'd get seven colours of crap kicked out of me, and I doubt I'd survive long enough to reach the safety of prison. And that's even before my wife found out!!!!:eek::biggrin:

I'm pleased to say that the 'Ms letter' worked:biggrin:

I was sent an email from the curator of our county theatre complex (which has several theatres, one artsy cimema and two art galleries and a couple of gift shops) that it would be a good idea to show my stuff in a display cabinet. :eek::biggrin: He just gave me the email address of the lady that I needed to talk to.
One of the galleries shows shows stuff like paintings and jewellery made by local and national artists.

I've still got to finalize all the details but it seems that they host stuff for around 4 weeks for paintings ( wall space ) but if your stuff is in a cabinet, then they keep it for much longer and call you to fill in gaps.

I sent them some pics of my stuff and they seemed impressed esp by the fact that most of my stuff has had a previous life.

Keep your fingers crossed for me:biggrin: I might even get my first official sale!!!:biggrin:


.......now I just have to ask M'lady if I can 'borrow' some of HER pens!!!:biggrin:
 
You mean your supposed to sell the pens you make?????? Whats up with that? If you start selling pens you wll have to start worrying about making profits...are you charging enough.... will you have to buy more tools.... I think your opening up a can of worms here Steve.
 
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