Women only: Regarding the use of the term 'girls' to describe women.

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41. I also prefer "Ma'am" to "Mrs."

If clerks and other customer service people look at me and decide that I am over thirty, they almost always address me as "Mrs.", which is inaccurate. If you want to respect my gray hairs, if you absolutely insist on it, just say "Ma'am". That would apply nicely to both the married and the unmarried.

The assumption that I am married because most women are at my age is sloppy. Another assumption, I think, is that all women prefer marriage to singleness, and would rather be inaccurately addressed as Mrs. than as Miss. I know that there are terrifically happy and productive marriages, and also know that if a woman inadvertently marries one of the egregious losers out there, she may be in a world of trouble.

There are, it strikes me, an awful lot of assumptions floating around, just as many as before the current wave of feminism. We should continue to clean up the language. I'm not sure how many centuries will be needed to achieve a non-sexist society, but tweaking perceptions one word at a time is a worthy and productive tactic.