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From: petrich@netcom.com (Loren Petrich)
Subject: Re: Salutation "Ms."
Message-ID: <petrichE6t29n.G4K@netcom.com>
Organization: Netcom
References: <850656472.7408@dejanews.com> <5fm7rl$jtr@shore4.intercom.net>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 02:15:22 GMT
Lines: 18
Sender: petrich@netcom19.netcom.com

In article <5fm7rl$jtr@shore4.intercom.net>,  <Jerome James LaCorte> wrote:

>The abbreviation "Ms." has gained rather wide acceptance in American business 
>correspondence. It is used to address a woman when one is unsure of or otherwise 
>wishes to be ambiguous about her marital status. For example, in the 1984 vice 
>presidential debates, George Bush repeatedly referred to Geraldine Ferraro as 
>"Mrs. Ferraro," a usage which was incorrect since her husband's name was not 
>Ferraro. "Ms." (or even Miss in this case) would have been preferable. I believe it is 
>pronounced almost exactly like "Miss," although I have heard it pronounced "miz" 
>also.

	It can be interpreted as short for "Mistress" if one desires 
(probably what "Miss" originally was).
-- 
Loren Petrich				Happiness is a fast Macintosh
petrich@netcom.com			And a fast train
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