Ask Matt: Correcting the Wrong Pronoun

October 13, 2011 by Matt Kailey

http://tranifesto.com/2011/10/13/ask-matt-correcting-the-wrong-pronoun/

A reader writes: "What's on my mind today is correcting pronouns. For example, I had a professor who in class has consistently referred to me as Mr., but who sent me an e-mail saying Ms. I was surprised because he had been referring to me correctly for some time and any official documents he might have would refer to me as male.

"I waffled for a while then just sent a largely unnecessary e-mail addressing other things and at some point threw in a parenthetical statement that said, "It's Mr., by the way," or something like that. I don't know if it was the least awkward way I could have pulled it off, or if I should have just let it slide, but I felt a strong urge to correct him, which is rare for me.