Ms./Mrs./Miss/DR!

[Una Smith]

Karen Allendoerfer <ravena at cco.caltech.edu> wrote:

>I've also had clerks at the cash register,
>when I sign credit card charge slips, ask me if my name is "mine" or "my
>husband's"? 

Yuck!  In a facetious mood, I might say the name came with the card. 

It is annoying to have people assume your name might be "Mrs John Doe",
but many older women in America now *do* use their husband's name with 
"Mrs" stuck to it.  So far as I know, it is a uniquely American custom,
and it's on the way out.

	Una Smith