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
Try the South
https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/135874/
Why don’t we just replace honorifics with pronouns?
That solves the problem of where to put pronouns in formal settings
This is honestly the right answer. You can be formal without the honorific. Include any titles they may have (PHD, PE).