Dear Madams?

Dear Madams?

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I'm writing to a board of directors that are all female. Should I open the letter with 'Dear Madams' which looks a little odd?
Jonathan Ford

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By AnonymousUser
06th Dec 2001 10:49

Wise people
I was once asked by an Englishman why Jesus had not been born in Wales and to my "don't know" he replied that they couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. I did however point out that the wise men were supposed to have travelled over land from a country far to the east.
That shut him up.

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By Paul Crowley
03rd Jun 2022 15:26

Member Since: 16th Jun 2009
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Posting before you became a member. Spooky?

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By jford
29th Nov 2001 17:44

Thanks for all your replies. I think 'Yo Ladies' wins the day combining the best of a forward looking, young, practice together with the traditional values one would expect from a firm of chartered accountants.


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By Abacjm
29th Nov 2001 21:39

Thanks Jonathan.
So why not go all the way Jonathan and sign it, as Jonathan(the Full Monty)Ford - the one with the revs and hot engine under the bonnet!
They may make you a token male director or at worst their plaything!!

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By AnonymousUser
29th Nov 2001 23:46

John behave yourself!

John behave yourself. How is Rangers doing these days? Is Dick Advicaat still at the helm? How about getting an Englishman by the name of Terence Venables as the new boss of Rangers.

It seems Celtic have won the championship already and we are not nearer the xmas yet!

Liverpool have sold their prodigal son (Robbie Fowler) and hopefully they will buy Dwight Yorke to help Michael Owen at the front. There is too much reliance on one man at the moment!

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By neileg
29th Nov 2001 16:58

Diane...
It's fine if you pull your jacket down a bit.

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By neileg
29th Nov 2001 09:49

Correct term
The correct term is 'Mesdames' but it still looks pretty odd!

How about 'Dear Directors' which would be awfully PC.

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By Accounting WEB
29th Nov 2001 09:52

Just a suggestion
If I received a letter addressed as "Dear Madams" I would be slightly offended.

I'm no expert but perhaps you could try Dear Directors or address it to the Managing Director by name if there is one???

Diane

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By Accounting WEB
29th Nov 2001 11:23

Salutations
You know that the directors are all female, but you don't say whether the directors know you.

If you are known to the directors, then either stick to "Dear Directors" or one named individual.

If you aren't known to the directors, then perhaps try "Dear Sir or Madam,". This is what Microsoft Word keeps prompting me with when I write letters to someone I don't know, which seems fine to me.

Hope this helps.

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By Abacjm
29th Nov 2001 13:28

Female greetings
I would begin, "Yo! Ladies!"
Women, of necessity, have to know their place and of course should all be in deference to man!
We are fast becoming too PC, IMHO.
Now each mornng when I switch mine on, I have to consider wheether it is booting up like a man or complaining of a headache like a woman!
Since my hard-disk crash, of course it has been treated like a woman - pampered with daily soothing music and regular back-ups, but it still loses most of its RAM memory over teh course of the day. Hang on a minute, RAM is a male sheep, so it has just had an eternal sex change.
Yo is the word, I guess!
I will awit for the sparks from Phillipa, Nikki etc!

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By Accounting WEB
29th Nov 2001 14:35

Politically Correct OR Grammatically Correct?
Men,
Too much deliberation over something so trivial (typical men!!). Surely the content of the letter is more important that the salutation?? From a female perspective, I would go for political correctness rather than grammatical correctness. Just get the letter written and go shopping!!
P.S Does my [***] look big in this??
Diane

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By AnonymousUser
29th Nov 2001 11:37

Alternatively
As Gareth Thomas says (doesn't he play rugby at outside centre for Cardiff and Wales?) it depends on whether they know you. If I know people I write "Dear Susan, Mary and Hazel". If not I write "Mesdames". Note, not "Dear Mesdames", just "Mesdames". If you don't know a group of males then it's "Gentlemen" without the "Dear". Somehow I can't bring myself to write a letter beginning "Ladies" although I would start a meeting "Good afternoon, ladies".

Funny creatures aren't we?

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By JD
03rd Jun 2022 11:05

Try the chairperson by name, followed by '' and Et al''

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Replying to JD:
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By Tax is always taxing
03rd Jun 2022 11:29

I would imagine after 21 years the letter might have been sent, but you never know.

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By thevaliant
03rd Jun 2022 13:17

The thing is, this appeared near the top of my 'Most recent replies', even though there was no 2022 reply. It was all 2001. I was about to comment then saw how old it was and left it. Someone else clearly not noticing the date either.

Something, somehow, brought it to the top (a deleted comment perhaps).
I must admit, seeing a thread older than some of the office juniors be resurrected is quite something.

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Replying to Tax is always taxing:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
03rd Jun 2022 15:03

If it had been to HMRC they would now just be getting round to replying.

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By JD
03rd Jun 2022 19:56

Note to self, don't rely on recent replies option, unless 21 years falls within the definition of recent.

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By More unearned luck
03rd Jun 2022 13:50

As others have said the plural of madam is mesdames. If that sound unusual it is only because writing a formal business letter to a group of people who are all female is still unusual.

You could assume that they are unmarried (or that their marital status doesn't matter) and use the plural of Miss which is Misses (spoken it sounds like Mrs).

Perhaps your question should have been "What is the plural of Ms?"

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Replying to More unearned luck:
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By Paul Crowley
03rd Jun 2022 14:31

"What is the plural of Ms?"
I vote Mses spoken as Muses, just like bus and buses.

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
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By gillybean04
04th Jun 2022 23:40

Does Ms rhyme with bus? If yes, I've been pronouncing one of them wrong my entire life.

Since they all (Mrs, Ms and Miss) are derivatives of Mistress, perhaps the letter should have read Dear Mistresses. Although, if author was married and their wife read it, it may land them in hot water.

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Replying to gillybean04:
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By paulwakefield1
06th Jun 2022 12:41

I'm not sure Dear Madams is any better on that score!

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Replying to gillybean04:
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By Paul Crowley
06th Jun 2022 22:54

I thought Ms sounded like MuZ, but with the u as an idea of mouth direction to deliberately avoid the i sound.
But in the plural Muses sounds better as Buses than Moozies or Mooses

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By Paul Crowley
03rd Jun 2022 14:35

All the left over and Aweb replacement replies are now a bit out of date
Surely now it is they them?
One can no longer assume Gender just by using reason, biological sex or past knowledge of the person's chosen identity.
Better to knowingly risk possible offence to the Men and Women than to unknowingly offend by missgender.

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By thevaliant
06th Jun 2022 13:00

You're all wrong.

The letter should open with 'Dear Comrade #FirstName'.

Of course.

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By SteveHa
07th Jun 2022 10:36

Isn't, "Oy, you lot" all inclusive, implies no gender or identity, and serves as a greeting?

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