The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style : A ...

436 titles
tion of master of science, multiple sclerosis,
millisecond, manuscript, missile system,
or Mississippi in postal code.
Miss is still used, with a surname, in
addressing or referring to a girl; or a
woman who has not married; or a
woman by her professional name, even if
she is married and has a different personal
name. (In a news story, Elizabeth
Taylor was called just “Taylor” twice
and then, in a flash of civility, “Miss Taylor.”)
Miss or madam is used without a
surname to address a female stranger.
(“Miss, you dropped your purse.”)
Traditional etiquette decrees that
when Mrs. precedes a full name, it shall
not be the woman’s own name (“Mrs.
Agnes Cooper”) but her husband’s
(“Mrs. John Cooper”).
To say “I am Mr. Doaks,” instead of
“I am Joseph Doaks,” is considered immodest,
unless one is addressing
schoolchildren. And this is a matter of
word usage rather than etiquette, but it
is not correct to say “His name is Mr.
Edwards”; rather, “He is Mr. Edwards”
and “His name is George L. Edwards.”
See also REVEREND.
Mr. and Mrs. with a name are always
abbreviated. It is never “Mister Doaks.”
But they are never abbreviated when
used as words: “Hey, mister, do you
have a match?” / “I have to call the missis”
(or “missus”).
Publications that use social titles have
exceptions. The Times omits them from
sports stories and from references to famous
people who are no longer living.
An eastern newspaper that I worked for
excluded Mr. from the names of arrested
men. When I asked why, the city editor
replied, “Any son of a bitch that gets
himself arrested doesn’t deserve to be
called mister.”
3. Titles of office
Some job titles may precede names,
and they are short: President, Governor,
Senator, Representative (or Rep. for
short), General, Colonel, Dean, Professor,
etc. A title that precedes a name begins
with a capital. That goes only for an
official title, not a pseudo title like “Drug
Czar” or “Rock ’n’ Roll King” or
“Cherry Blossom Queen.” (For citizens
of a republic, we seem remarkably fond
of royal appellations.)
Dr. is another title that may precede a
name, when the doctorate is earned and
not just honorary. It is superfluous when
the degree follows a name. Frank A.
Robinson, M.D., or George B. Sanders,
Ph.D., is enough.
No other title should precede Dr. “Superintendent
of Schools Dr. Ambrose
Walker” goes too far. Better: Dr. Ambrose
Walker, superintendent of schools.
Nor should any other pair of titles be
combined, as in “County Supervisor
Mrs. Frederick J. Van Buren.” The office
can go after the name.
An official position or office mentioned
in a general sense does not merit
an initial capital: “He has decided to run
for governor.” When the word identifies
a particular holder of the office, it may
reasonably be capitalized: “The Governor
has signed. . . . ” Another reasonable
style is that of The Associated Press. It
calls for all titles to be in lower case
when not affixed to a name: “The pope
gave his blessing” but “Pope John Paul
gave. . . . ” An article, attributed to AP,
was inconsistent:
...He. . . became the first Virginia
mayor to lose his seat in an election
on recalling him from office. . . . The
City Council can pick a member to
serve as Mayor, go outside . . . for a
Mayor, or do nothing.
In each instance, mayor is used in a general
sense; it does not refer to a particular
person, so no capital M is warranted.
An official title of modest length
is customarily capitalized before the
name: “Attorney General Janet Reno
said. . . . ” But it needs no capitals after
the name: “Janet Reno, the attorney general,
said. . . .” Sometimes a lawyer in no