Linguistic Drift?

[Jane Noll (PSY)]

Regarding predicting language change for the purpose of decreasing gender
bias in English:

A good example of language change that occurred but not in the way that
was predicted is the use of the title "Ms."  It was intended to take the
place of "Miss" and "Mrs." providing a title for females that does not
indicate marital status. Instead, it is used as a third category of
marital status.  See Susan Ehrlich and Ruth King's 1992 article in
_Discourse & Society_, entitled "Gender-based language reform and the
social construction of meaning."

Jane Noll
University of South Florida