How does one abbreviate "Mr Adams PhD, Mr Benson PhD, Mr Charles PhD" to use just one salutation and one title.
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1Do note that with a PhD each, these are "Doctors Adams, Benson and Charles" which solves both problems easily.– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 23:40
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1 Answer
I believe you are seeking "Messrs." which is an abbreviation of the French 'Messieurs' and is commonly used in English as a plural for "Mr."
Example usage:
Dear Messrs. Jones, Adams and Jefferson,
See Merriam-Webster and Cambridge Online Dictionary for further details.
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2Oddly, the female equivalent, Mesdames, is not abbreviated. Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 21:14
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@TimLymington - I believe you would be looking for Mmes. or Mses. depending on your location and intended recipient. See: noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/bien-well/fra-eng/… Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 21:20
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1@MrWonderful You could mention that Messrs is short for the French Messieurs. Interestingly I have never seen Mesdames shortened to Mmes in English, though it is routinely so shortened in French. Americans, in my experience rarely use Messrs. They will often begin a formal business letter Gentlemen. I'm not sure how they would write Mr Jones, Mr Smith and Mr Bullfinch.– WS2Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 22:32
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@WS2 -Oddly, it took me 7 links down Google's results before I found a source to show that. I've updated the answer accordingly. Thanks! Oh, and my Mom has used Messrs. in business correspondence ever since the '60s. Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 22:41