Shit my Kid Stumps me on

So, as a parent, we are expected to know everything about everything. And I think I hold my own pretty good. My daughter is super curious about so many different topics, she often asks me random questions out of the blue. But once in a while, she asks me something I have no idea about. And when that happens (depending on the topic) we either Google it, or pull out the encyclopedia.

(Yes, I am a freak who teaches her kids to use those paper things called dictionaries and encyclopedias.)

Most recently, she asked me why women are called "M-R-S" after they get married. I launched into a long-winded talk about women taking their husband's name, gender-equality, yada-yada, which she listened to and asked questions during, all very politely. At the end she very nicely clarified.
"But Mom, why M-R-S? What does it mean?" So in the end, I hadn't answered her question at all, but misunderstood it. And when I thought about it, I wasn't certain. I could tell her about the use of Miss, Ms., Mrs., Mr., Master, but I didn't actually know about the details of the abbreviations.

We ended up going home and looking it up online, and I am sharing it here for you! I'm sure you have all been wondering the exact same thing as my 9-year-old, lol!
Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. are NOT abbreviations for Mister and Missus, but for Master and Mistress. (Ooooh, I am raising a tough girl, she did NOT like the term Master!!) And Miss and Mrs. actually had no connection to marital status at all. Miss was originally used for girls and very young women of 'no consequence.' If the woman was educated, or in a position of power, then she was referred to as Mrs. It's interesting (and unsurprising) that marriage to a 'respectable man' is also why that title is given. Ms. is ruminated about on many websites, and seems to be that 'in-between' title that was given to unmarried women. Women encouraged the use of it to try and prevent being identified as an individual, rather than solely as a wife.
Because I encourage my kids to write letters and emails addressing people with proper titles, we settled on women as Ms., unless we know for sure they use Mrs., and men as Mr.

We both agree, a simple first and last name is much easier.

If you're interested in reading more, some sites I found fascinating were:
https://newrepublic.com/article/119432/history-female-titles-mistress-miss-mrs-or-ms
https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/Mrs-Miss-or-Ms
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25FOB-onlanguage-t.html