Ms.

pronounced "miz" and originating in secretarial manuals of the 1940s, this title is used for women where "Mr." is used for men. If you use "Mr. Seifert," use "Ms. Ayallah"; if you call Seifert by his last name, do the same for Ayallah. "Ms." is generally acceptable when you don't know what social title (Ms., Mrs., Dr., Miss) the person uses; you may also omit the social title for both sexes ("Dear Irene Nash"; "Dear David Koskenmaki"). Where a woman indicates she prefers Miss or Mrs., use that instead. The greatest objection to "Ms." has been that you can't tell if she's married or not. The only sensible reply is that we have managed for centuries to get along without knowing whether a "Mr." is married or not. According to the American Heritage Book of English Usage, "the term stands as a highly successful language reform—probably because people value its usefulness." The plural is Mses., Mss. Fun things to know and tell: in 1972 Bella Abzug passed her "Ms. Bill," which forbade the federal government from using prefixes indicating marital status. See also mademoiselle, Miss, Mrs., salutations (letters).