I’m from the Midwest, too, and we never confused “misses” and “mizz” in Minnesotan.
I’ve never run across a woman offended by “Ms.,” but I’ve had return correspondence where the woman thoughtfully included “Mrs.” in the name line beneath her signature. I took that as a signal that I should use that in my next letter, email, or phone call. I’m a man, so beyond that I dare not tread, Costanze
I am by the way, an American professional, and fully agree with Jodi about “Dear Jane Smith.” Not accepted in these parts.
In Pakistan we use sahib or sahiba. These are used after the name, so AK84 Sahib. However, the sahib or sahiba is often prefixed with the persons profession or position, so Dr-Sahib, manager-sahiba.
When people use english, they usually follow UK conventions.
Depends on the circumstances and the social level, in fashion not dissimilar to using Du/Sie or tu/usted. If your doctorate is as a medical professional and I were visiting your office, then the “doctor” address is appropriate. If you’re only a Ph.D. in mathematics, and we’re not at University or colleagues, then it’s not going to happen.
That may be specific to Puerto Rico or other Latin-American countries, but in Mexico, it’s very context-specific, as above. Only my wife’s former patients and students would ever have called her “doctora” in Mexico in any circumstances, and friends and colleagues only used that address in the office. Sometimes their children will address her as “doctora,” but that’s not as a honorarium but only as a title, just like in English: “Good morning, doctor, how are you?”
Maybe, but it’s context-driven (again, I’m unsure of Puerto Rico, where I have no experience). I wouldn’t call one of my neighbors by a title, and I would be offended if I couldn’t just call them by their first names.
That’s a professional context again. It’s a very proper thing to do. But your cousin (or you) wouldn’t come to the SDMB in a non-professional context and sign everything with your title.
No, it is not offense, and it is context driven, you’re right. But I’ve been answering this thread, especially the questions in the OP, as to how you address someone you do not know well. A stranger, someone in the street, someone with whom you had little familiarity or had just met. Or how you would address someone in a business letter or something like that. A professional/business setting.
In the case of my neighbors, they’re not close friends with my mom. Friends (and neighbors who are friends) get the first name treatment, of course. People she just knows (and barely tolerate each other), don’t. And in some cases, her job title IS appropriate (they’re talking to her about laws, for example).
But the way I interpreted the OP, and some of his subsequent replies, is how you address someone in a serious or professional/business context. With people you barely know (and hence, may not know the marriage status)… Not in an informal, friendly, laid-back way, but in a more serious setting. Which is also why I don’t get called either Ms, Miss, or ma’am everyday, I’m not in any situation that would warrant it.
I don’t use my job title outside of work. If I’m with friends, *they’re *the ones who use my title to introduce me to someone else (I just say “Hi, I’m KG!”). But I’d rather they do that, if they’re going to use a title, than say, “This is srta. KG”.
And I already addressed the title earlier. Recap: If I know she has a title, and I’m going to put something in front of her name (letter, formal introduction), I’d go with the title and skip Sra/srta altogether. If I have to call someone (whom I do not know status or job title), it would depend on how the person looked (if I see them) and if I can tell if they have a wedding band. And out of respect for elders and hosts, I use don/doña (which also ignores marital status). And if I have to err, I’ll err on using srta rather than sra.