Let’s say there’s someone I want to call Mr/Ms/Mrs [Name], but I don’t know their gender, is there a title I can use that doesn’t assume their gender?
Let’s say there’s someone I want to call Mr/Ms/Mrs [Name], but I don’t know their gender, is there a title I can use that doesn’t assume their gender?
Slightly off topic but I really like the approach where the honorific is just dropped entirely. So just [Name]. No Mr/Ms/Mrs. It mostly doesn’t serve any purpose anyway.
That’s what we did in Sweden in the 60s. It feels so archaic whenever I have to enter an honorific on documents (i.e when booking hotels and flights) from other countries.
Sometimes they allow for you to write in other stuff. I put in “His majesty” once, it printed out as “His Firstname Lastname” in my hotel reservation paper. Disappointed.
I also put in “Emperor” for some mailing list stuff. I get a chuckle when I get mails from them. “Emperor RaivoKulli, sign up now for the conference”
Relevant:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xTRqjyuYH94
I spent the last 20 years in the US military, most of it being referred to as “Sergeant [cobysev].” The past year since I’ve been retired, I’ve been trying to get used to being called “Mr. [cobysev].” It’s really weird, especially since I joined the military at 18, so no one called me Mr. previously.
Honestly you could probably get away with just “Sarge” as a nickname. Won’t help much on official documents but it might make conversation a little more comfortable.
I almost never see it used anymore here in the US, either. Let’s just cancel that useless title.
On the one hand it feels really weird when someone (not a child) calls me with that phrasing - that’s my Dad plus no one does that anymore
But on the other hand it seems disrespectful for a child to call an adult by first name, and I don’t know a better alternative
Why don’t we just replace honorifics with pronouns?
That solves the problem of where to put pronouns in formal settings
Try the South
https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/135874/
This is honestly the right answer. You can be formal without the honorific. Include any titles they may have (PHD, PE).