I just gave the amazon delivery man a little lecture on the meaning of 'Ms'

It's usually the older generation that do the Mr and Mrs thing on cards. Don't let it bother you, it's something that will literally die out.

I'm a Ms, always have been, not married If I address a card to friends with different surnames I usually write The Smith-Jones or whatever and just double barrel it on the envelope.

I was disappointed when registering with H&M yesterday to only be given Miss, Mrs or Mr option especially as the store is aimed at younger women. I would have immediately voided my registration but for the fact you got 10% off and free delivery by registering! I have emailed them now and hope they will reconsider

I had forgotten this one...DD was being discharged from hospital and they would not give me her medical notes because they did not recognise me as her mother since we had different surnames! I had both our passports and her birth certificate with me (which showed all the names and our relation) but still no go. DH turned up and they gave him the notes without even having to show ID! This was in France.

I got married in Greece where by law women do not change their surname when married so DH is MrHisName and I am DrMyName. Despite telling people clearly and writing it on forms we always end up being called Dr and Mrs HisName. Very irritating!

If I see my GP she calls firstnamesecondname then mrsseccondname. I don't want to be Mrs anymore, it's a Pita to change your name. Where do you start, with a passport?

Yes, and it's easy, just send them your decree and birth certificate, then use the passport for everything else.

I have also been told Ms means divorced, but I have also been told deoxygenated blood is blue, you can't legally change your first name, Elvis is alive and several other untruths.

I once gave Ms as my title on the phone to a company and they then sent me post to Mz Surname.

I have NEVER heard that Ms means divorced. i have always used it and am not even married. I am also more than happy to just be my given name. The only peiple who get confused by it all are the kids school who either call me Ms Partners Surname or Mrs My Surname. But i thibk thisbis my only fault as i once made a sarcastic comment when they called me Mrs Partners Surname.

Salene why would you deliberately keep believing something that is incorrect?

vesuvia like the UK I don't think many people are aware of the pageants.

What I meant is how people are addressed. And also in official forms. The use of titles are much more prevalent here. You will know if you lived there for a while. We are much more likely to go by first names.

Just look at this thread. Some posters find it uncomfortable to be addressed by first name when they aren't familiar with the other person. I never have such problem.

Ha ha I would have told him Its Mis-tress to him and he better do what I tell him.

HeadDreamer wrote - "I'm from NZ and we don't do titles."

For a country that doesn't do titles, I find it ironic that not only does New Zealand have a beauty pageant for Miss New Zealand, it also has beauty pageants for Ms New Zealand and Mrs New Zealand.

If I see my GP she calls firstnamesecondname then mrsseccondname. I don't want to be Mrs anymore, it's a Pita to change your name. Where do you start, with a passport?

I am divorced and was planning on changing back to my maiden name now my children are nearly finished school and can sort their own health care.

I was told Ms was for divorced women in the 80s, but once realised that was not it started using for myself in 1989 with my first bank account.
But i have got slacker as i got older as I am married, and honestly don't really care much anymore

dave gorman, gives some good coffe shop names my fav from the list was just the coffee he had ordered.

Hector and somedyke my very clearly female mother (who doesn't really get Starbucks) when to get a hot chocolate for my brother and gave her name as "Edward" as it was for him
Nobody batted an eyelid which makes me tempted to gradually increase the weirdness of the names I give until someone notices.

Mumsnet to my shame, I was asked for my title in a shop and accidentally said Miss instead of Ms
I've only started using Ms for everything fairly recently as I thought being a 17 year old Ms was a bit precocious and raised a few eyebrows. My bank cards still say Miss and I cba to change them.

Yeah I believe you , that's just what I've always thought , so someone at some point must of told me that 😂

I will still keep thinking that most likely to

Interesting tribpot ! Msdick though? What's that about?

I think I will from now on write Ms. for any woman and campaign for the plural to be Mses (pronounced Muz and Muzzes respectively)

I think we need a mumsnet campaign.
Well done OP. Maybe soon we won't have to explain every time

Interesting points Lanchester. I moved back to the UK recently after a long time and was surprised at the use of first names, from people I had not necessarily met. As I had to reply to one and complain/argue with them about their service, I did not want to put "Dear Alex" as if writing to a friend. I was forced to, however, as I didn't know his/her surname or sex.
So I had to put "Dear Alex bla bla yours faithfully FirstName LastName"

It's never meant divorced - I'm not doubting that's what you've been told, Salene, but its usage has always been intended not to classify a woman by her marital status.

The more you know, eh, salene?

Ms means divorced I was always told

DH and I both have birthdays in December, mine is first. We have the same initial but different surnames. Turns out I received a lot of birthday cards which were left unopened as I looked at the surname, not the title and thought they were for him.

I often think I should start using Ms and then everything will be wrong apart from my initial.

But then people defaulting to Mrs for older women ofc is practising ageism. It's only women who got this. If you are young, you are automatically a Miss. If you are old, you are a Mrs.

I feel, if maritial status isn't important, then staying as a Miss should be the default. Just like Mr. It's the default title for men.

But I'm equally open to Mrs being the default title. Actually it's the default if you are in your mid thirties. I always got called Mrs and I'm sure it's because I look middle aged.

SomeDyke - I have a friend who calls themselves Pike in certain coffee shops, in reference to the Dad's Army episode ('Don't tell him Pike').

It was apparently shouted from the back of a queue in said coffee shop, when somebody objected to giving their name.