A new gender neutral title 'Mx' is to join the honorifics 'Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms' on driving licences and other official documents, the first change to officially recognised titles in decades.
新的中性性别称谓“Mx”将加入“Mr”"Mrs""Miss"和“Ms”的队伍,成为驾照以及其他正式文件上的性别称谓。这是数十年来官方承认称谓的首次变更。
Royal Mail, high street banks, government departments and some universities all now accept Mx which is used by transgender people or other individuals who do not identify with a particular gender.
皇家邮政,商业银行,政府部门和一些大学已经承认"Mx"这个称谓。变性人和其他不确定性别的人均可使用这个称谓。
The title has been added, without fanfare, to official forms and databases and is under consideration by the Oxford English Dictionary for inclusion in its next edition.
Mx被悄悄地就加入了正式表格和数据库中,而且牛津英语词典已在考虑把它添加进下一版词典中。
Assistant editor of the dictionary, Johnathan Dent, was quoted by the Sunday Times as saying the move towards Mx was a sign of the English language's ability to adapt to an ever-changing society.
《周日泰晤士报》引用剑桥英语词典助理编辑乔纳森·丹特的话称,Mx成为正式称谓是英语适应瞬息万变的社会的标志。
He explained it was the first time in recent history that commonly used and accepted titles had changed.
他表示,这是人们普遍使用和接受的称谓近年来的首次改动。
Mr Dent was quoted as saying it showed the way English could adapt to people's needs, rather than letting language dictate identity.
丹特先生称,此举体现英语能够适应人们的需求,而不是任由语言决定人们的性别。
He said titles, whether on online drop-down boxes or elsewhere, tended to be formal and enforce traditional relationships such as those between husband and wife, as in Mr and Mrs, or even profession such as Dr or Lord.
他称,无论是网站的下拉选框还是其他地方,称谓都有变得正式的趋势,用Mr和Mrs标识丈夫和妻子这样的传统关系,或者用Dr和Lord标识职业身份。
'This is something new,' the assistant editor said.
丹特先生说:“这是全新的改变。”
The Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the NHS are among those public bodies now accepting the Mx title.
英国工作与养老金部,英国税务海关总署,驾驶员和车辆协会和国民医疗服务体系都是是公务体系中已经承认Mx称谓的机构。
The Royal Mail has said it introduced Mx as an option for those registering online following requests from customers two years ago. It has been rolling out the title across all of its online applications since then.
皇家邮政称两年前就已经按客户要求把Mx引入网站注册称谓选项。自那时起,其网上所有注册都能下拉选择这个性别称谓。
Barclays was one of the first high street banks to offer the Mx title and its customers can now use the title on their credit and debit cards, correspondence, cheques and with online banking.
英国巴克莱银行是首家提供Mx称谓给顾客选择的商业银行,顾客现在可以在信用卡,借记卡,来往信件,支票和网银上使用这个称谓。
Royal Bank of Scotland has started using the title and HSBC has introduced Mx for some customers and is in the process of including it for all its customers.
苏格兰皇家银行也已经开始使用这个称谓,汇丰银行也提供该称谓给部分顾客使用,并正努力推广给全部顾客。
Oxford University introduced the title last year and has explained that it is 'the most commonly used and recognised gender neutral title'.
牛津大学去年就引进该称谓,并称之为“最广泛使用和获得认同的中性性别称谓”。
Birmingham, Cambridge and Portsmouth University also use the title as well as UCAS the university admissions service which introduced it for students last July.
伯明翰大学,剑桥大学和朴茨茅斯大学也使用了这个称谓,英国高校联合招生委员会在去年7月也引入了该称谓。
SJ Jacobs from the UK's Nonbinary Inclusion Project has been quoted by the Sunday Times as saying that the increased acceptance of Mx as a title was a 'big step forward'.
《星期日泰晤士报》引用英国性别多元组织的SJ·雅各布斯的言论,称Mx称谓日益被接受是“前进的一大步”。
Jacobs said the inclusion of the title was an important sign of validation for many but that more still needed to be done to make sure other organisations such as IT and fraud prevention services accept the title.
雅各布斯说,对于很多人而言Mx被用作称谓是承认其有效性的重大标志,但为了确保其他领域,如IT,欺诈防止团体等使用这个称谓,仍有很多工作要做。
One company was quoted as saying it had not used the term over embarrassment. They were unsure how to pronounce the title.
有公司称因为不知如何读这个称谓而感到尴尬,所以仍未使用这个称谓。
'Most people pronounce it as "Mux,"' Jacobs said, explaining that it is said with a sort of schwa sound in the middle but a lot of people just spell it out.
“很多人把它读成‘Mux',”雅各布斯说。他解释读音里有一个非重读元音,但很多人直接读它的拼写。