[michigan91]

Hi,

I am thinking about the words featured in the title. Apparently, a lot of people pronounce 'Ms.' as 'mizz'. I have no memory of learning this pronounciation in school, and moreover, I don't recall anyone in my life using 'mizz' while growing up. To me 'mizz' sounds very southern. I do remember learning all of the female prefixes, but I seem to remember being taught (and my experience reflects) that 'Miss' and 'Ms.' both just sound like 'miss'.

As a native Michigander, or as a Michigan migrant, what is your opinion on this lingustic matter?

Feeling at a loss about this because a decent number of people online are in apparent agreement that 'Ms.' should be pronouced as 'mizz' and I feel like my life experience is being retroactively marked wrong.

[Mightyqueen801]

I am old enough to remember when Ms. first appeared, and as far as I know, it was always pronounced "Miz".

I have never been to Michigan, though, so perhaps saying it like "Miss" is a regional pronunciation.

The point, though, was to distinguish it from Mrs. or Miss when marital status is irrelevant. Not sure how saying Ms. like Miss accomplishes that.

[michigan91]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I am old enough to remember when Ms. first appeared, and as far as I know, it was always pronounced "Miz".

I have never been to Michigan, though, so perhaps saying it like "Miss" is a regional pronunciation.

The point, though, was to distinguish it from Mrs. or Miss when marital status is irrelevant. Not sure how saying Ms. like Miss accomplishes that.

In my mind, 'Ms.' and 'Miss' are more important to and only distinguisable in written form. In an oral context, there is no difference. All women are simply 'miss' or 'missus'.

To your earlier point, here is a graph from Google Ngram showing the frequency of the three words. I was unaware that Ms was fairly uncommon before the 1960s.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I am old enough to remember when Ms. first appeared, and as far as I know, it was always pronounced "Miz".

I have never been to Michigan, though, so perhaps saying it like "Miss" is a regional pronunciation.

The point, though, was to distinguish it from Mrs. or Miss when marital status is irrelevant. Not sure how saying Ms. like Miss accomplishes that.

Exactly MQ. Why have a third 'title' pronounced the same as one of the other ones. It was MIZ (for Ms) to distinguish it.

[scorpio516]

Are the rest of you really old?

It's been miz for Ms. since the 80s. Just really rarely used.

[tuebor]

I recall jokes about this on sitcoms in the 70s or early 80s, when I was a child. Some people did make a point of saying "Miz" as a spoken pronunciation at that time. AFAIK, Ms. was originally only a written convention, before 70s feminists started taking exception to various forms of gendered language and Ms. magazine was published.

I think it is interesting that other countries that speak Indo-European languages solved this problem by simply extending the married form to all adult women, married or not, and limiting the unmarried form to minors (e.g., Madame/Mademoiselle, Frau/Fraülein, Señora/Señorita), instead of the inanity of "Miss"/"Missus"/"Miz".

[djmilf]

Maybe that's it.

In Michigan, it's "Miz".

In the Southern states, it's "Mizzzzz".

[Coney]

I can recall when many of my teachers introduced themselves as Ms. ___. And there was Ms. magazine. Everyone that I know pronounced it as Mz.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by michigan91

In my mind, 'Ms.' and 'Miss' are more important to and only distinguisable in written form. In an oral context, there is no difference. All women are simply 'miss' or 'missus'.

Why would calling a woman by a title that doesn't reference her marital status be irrelevant in an oral context?

And I lived in Michigan for 9 years (1993 to 2002) and Ms. was always pronounced Miz. And yes, people used it because why on earth do we need to know women's marital statuses when we don't have the same desperate need to know men's?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by djmilf

In the Southern states, it's "Mizzzzz".

My dog loves my neighbor dearly but he will not sit for her.
Why? He doesn't understand what siiiiiiiiit means.