James Finn
1 min readMay 18, 2019

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Interesting that Ms. has become all but universal as an honorific, like as in journalism: “Ms. Jones was noted to blah blah blah,” but that it’s unheard of in direct address.

Another quirk: In the UK, “Yes, Miss” is common in direct address, and carries respect — no assumptions about age. “Yes, Ma’am” tends to be reserved for royalty.

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James Finn

James Finn is an LGBTQ columnist, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Act Up NY, and an agented but unpublished novelist.