# Anyone else under the age of 95 refer to their other as Mr./Mrs. \_\_\_\_\_? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932 "2010-10-21T20:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/21 "2010-10-22T15:52:29Z")
I call my first ex-wife Mrs **don’t ask**. We were divorced 33 years ago. Mind you she did keep the **don’t ask** family name. It is handy when we turn up at a hotel at different times, from different places in separate cars. We are still very close friends. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/22 "2010-10-22T16:29:54Z")
> [@bup](#): > > My wife and I do, but we live in a dimensionally warped world that’s Bath, England in 1811, but with internet and shit. Any zombies or sea monsters in the picture? No Mister or Mrs. Knig here. Mr. and Mrs. Knig are in their 70s and live in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/23 "2010-10-22T18:18:41Z")
I refer to my friends’ wives as “Mrs. Lastname” sometimes, just to throw them off because I can’t imagine any of them thinking of their wives that way. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/24 "2010-10-22T18:23:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Everybody was Mr./Mrs./Miss then? My parents got married in 1970 and they have never done this. Actually I’m not entirely sure what year they got married, but they both were in college. It had to be between 1965 and 1977. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/25 "2010-10-22T19:17:22Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Do you also do Mother and Father? I’ve heard older couples do that, on occasion. I don’t mean in talking to your child, as in, “Tell Mother/Mom/Mommy to do…” I mean actually addressing each other. Like “Pass the potatoes, please, Mother” or “How was your day, Father?” My parents did that. Well, my father would never address my mother as anything when speaking to her directly (he’d just start speaking, e.g., “Pass the potatoes, please.”) but if he had to call her from another room, he’d call out “Mamma!” My mom always called my father “Papa” and would also correct herself when speaking to us about him, e.g., “I meant to tell [father’s first name], I mean Papa, to buy milk.” She thought it was more respectful that way, lest we follow her example and call him by his first name, too. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/26 "2010-10-22T23:17:43Z")
I’ve never heard anyone do this, and I know people all the way into their 90s. It might be cute shortly after the wedding, but when the honeymoon’s over it just sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/27 "2010-10-23T02:01:57Z")
[Somewhat related thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582680) ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/28 "2010-10-23T20:43:20Z")
Ever since Ms came into widespread usage I have referred to my wife as “Ms [birthname]”. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/29 "2010-10-23T20:49:47Z")
My mother calls my father Mr. So and So. They married in 1968 when she was 24. I always referred to the old man as “Hey, make me dinner.” ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/30 "2010-10-23T23:55:55Z")
I do not encourage familiarity within my family circle. My own dear wife would not dream of speaking to myself directly any more than my children would — any matter, urgent or otherwise, may always be referred through a footman or maid. Should she need to speak of me, I understand her term is '_The master’_. I have yet to call her anything but ‘_Madam_’, whether during family prayers or in the throes of coitus. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932/31 "2010-10-24T16:58:21Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > I met a couple - thirtyish, who referred to each other as Husband and Wife. Not my husband, just Husband. As in “Husband likes to eat mashed potatoes.” It was weird. One of the great advantages of being married I’m looking forward to will be the ability to get his attention by grouchily bellowing “_Husbaaaaaaaand._” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-under-the-age-of-95-refer-to-their-other-as-mr-mrs-_____/557932.md?page=1)