Pet hate - being asked for a title

Person_one

Pollycat wrote: »

Yes I did.

So....? 42 years ago. yawn....

Don't feel you have to stay up and keep posting if you're too tired.

Georgiegirl256

catkins wrote: »

Quite a few people do keep using a person's name during a conversation though. It really bugs me as there is no need for it and it is annoying and silly

It really bugs me too and I find it patronising.

Coming from a sales background, I see it for what it is, a well known sales technique to come across as your best mate, as in "see, I'm using your first name, I know you now, you and me are mates now". It's meant to make the customer feel more comfortable and at ease with you and a way to get them to trust you and therefore hopefully end up making a purchase.

I would never do it unless the customer mentioned to call them by their first name, and even then I wouldn't do it repeatedly as some sales associates do. I hate it when it's done to me as I find it patronising and I'm like "ok buddy, you're going abit OTT with the best buds routine now!" It actually works the other way with me and turns me off making a purchase. Maybe that's just because I can see right through the act.

I'm sure some people are just generally nice and friendly though and that is their way....but I don't like it.

Dill

I wouldn't say it annoys me, but I do find it inconvenient that English lacks a generic title for unmarried women which doesn't sound either quaint (Miss) or a bit affected (Ms). I think Ms works better in print, lol. It sounds weird (to my ears) when you say 'Mzz' :rotfl:

I'd be quite happy for all women to be addressed as Mrs, whether married or not.

*max* I'd be interested to know what happens in French, do women all get called Mme, whether married or not? In German they all get called Frau. Fraulein has long since died out!

System

Coming from a sales background, I see it for what it is, a well known sales technique to come across as your best mate, as in "see, I'm using your first name, I know you now, you and me are mates now". It's meant to make the customer feel more comfortable and at ease with you and a way to get them to trust you and therefore hopefully end up making a purchase.

Exactly, i think anyone using your first name is a touch too familiar for someone not in your social circle or extended social circle.

Mojisola

Dill wrote: »

I do find it inconvenient that English lacks a generic title for unmarried women which doesn't sound either quaint (Miss) or a bit affected (Ms). I think Ms works better in print, lol. It sounds weird (to my ears) when you say 'Mzz'

Any weirder than Missus (Mrs)?

Georgiegirl256

Dill wrote: »

). I think Ms works better in print, lol. It sounds weird (to my ears) when you say 'Mzz' :rotfl:
!

I don't like the sound of it either and before I was married I wouldn't use it as a title. As you say, it sounds affected. My Mam hates it more than I do and says it always reminds her of the sound a bee makes! :rotfl:

Dill

Mojisola wrote: »

Any weirder than Missus (Mrs)?

As a neologism, it's taken from the letters common to Miss and Mrs. It works well in print, but the pronunciation is a bit stilted, which is possibly why there is still no single codified way of pronouncing it (?) Some say Mizz, some say Mzz, some say Muzz.

Dill

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

I don't like the sound of it either and before I was married I wouldn't use it as a title. As you say, it sounds affected. My Mam hates it more than I do and says it always reminds her of the sound a bee makes! :rotfl:

I'm glad it's not just me who thinks it sounds weird :rotfl:
I like the idea behind it, but personally I think it would have been better to adapt the existing title Mrs to fit both married and unmarried women alike.

Mojisola

Dill wrote: »

As a neologism, it's taken from the letters common to Miss and Mrs. It works well in print, but the pronunciation is a bit stilted, which is possibly why there is still no single codified way of pronouncing it (?) Some say Mizz, some say Mzz, some say Muzz.

I expect Mrs went through the same problem when people starting shortening Mistress to Missus.

Dill

Mojisola wrote: »

I expect Mrs went through the same problem when people starting shortening Mistress to Missus.

I don't think so, because that's just a shortening, which people do to words all the time, as opposed to coining a new word. Something that's easier to say or easier on the ears will catch on more quickly.