English Language & Usage Asked by Alex Mayants on June 30, 2021
It seems to be not quite logical to use the traditional address “ladies and gentlemen” when there are only a single lady and a single gentleman in the room, not counting for the person who is speaking.
What an address (in a similarly traditional style) would it be better to use in such case? Does it depend on the speaker’s gender or any other circumstances?
"Ladies and Gentlemen" is a common expression used to address an audience or crowd. While a crowd may consist of only gentlemen or only ladies, or possibly even just one gentleman or lady, it's entirely acceptable to address them as such anyway, as they will 'get' what you mean.
If you want to be 'correct', you could welcome them as "Sir and Madame" if it is one man and one woman. For a room of all one gender "Gentlemen" if it is all gentlemen and "Ladies" if it is all ladies, though you should only do this if you are certain that this is the case. Even then, it is unlikely that "Ladies and Gentlemen" will be objected to.
From related Wiktionary entry:
ladies and gentlemen pl (plural only)
(idiomatic) Used to address an audience.
- Use is so idiomatic that even unisex audiences are sometimes addressed this way, though "ladies" or "gentlemen" would be more correct.
- The forms "lady and gentlemen" and "ladies and gentleman" are rarely used even when strictly correct.
- Nearly always used with "ladies" before "gentlemen", as opposed to "gentlemen and ladies".
Correct answer by Zibbobz on June 30, 2021
Well if you only have one woman you can say "Lady and Gentlemen". I would do this in a way to show appreciation of the only woman that was present. Unless the meeting was just for men and then you could really emphasize the "Lady" to note that something may be off. And on the flip side you could also say "Ladies and Gentleman".
Answered by RyeɃreḁd on June 30, 2021
Well if there is only one Lady and a gentleman then
If they are known to you then you can call them by their name itself , or
If unknown, can say excuse me!! or Hello!!,
I think it should do the trick. :)
Answered by Amit Ranjan on June 30, 2021
Consider Colleagues (if they are affiliated professionally or through some organization) or Friends (if they are at least acquaintances).
Answered by bib on June 30, 2021
How about saying something like "I welcome the lady and the gentleman seated here....I am going to talk about blah blah" And if she seems like the eternal feminist you could substitute that by 'the gentleman and ah yes...the Lady"
Answered by Rico on June 30, 2021
If there are only ladies then we may address them as "Worthy ladies".
If both genders are present then "Ladies and gentlemen" or "Worthy ladies and gentlemen".
Answered by Noor ud Din on June 30, 2021
If there were to be only a man and a woman, I should probably say 'Sir and Madam'. A group of both men and women would be 'Ladies and Gentlemen', a group consisting of men and a woman or women and a man would be 'Ladies and Sir' and 'Gentlemen and Madam' respectively. Another way would be to use French 'Madame et Monsieur', 'Mesdames et Monsieur' and 'Messieurs et Madame'.
Answered by Joe Bloggs on June 30, 2021
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