The So-called title of MS

Maybe we should just employ Ma'am! It does not require married or unmarried status. It doesn't even require a name....

Cheers,

Jim

 

Who says so? Maybe that's the case where you live, but here, "Miss" can be used of any unmarried girl or woman, regardless of her age or whether she still lives with her father. I have just looke at two dictionary definitions for "Miss"; they are:

a title placed before the name of a girl or unmarried woman
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and:

title of a girl or unmarried woman.
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Perhaps restricting the title of "Miss" to young unmarried women still living with their fathers is an American thing. But then, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary says:

used as a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl.
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Granted, it also says:

young lady - used without a name as a conventional term of address to a young woman
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and:

a young unmarried woman or girl
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But this thread is about the use of Ms, as opposed to Mrs and Miss, as titles before a woman's name.

 

So are those characters who call Jessica "Miz Fletcher" all southerners who have moved to Cabot Cove, Maine?

 

I've heard far more women object to "Ma'am" than Miss.

 

I was born and raised in Alabama. I would have been corrected right away if I talked like that.