Fräulein
Template:ForeigncharHowever, it is also at least as likely to be spelled Fraulein in that case.
In German, () Fräulein (literally, "little woman" or "little Mrs.", pronounced /ˈfɹɔɪlaɪn/) is used as a title for young girls and unmarried women as opposed to Frau for married women. It is used with the first name or last name (Fräulein Anna or Fräulein Schmidt).
Today, the expression is considered derogatory by many leftist feminist grouops and is not used quite as often as it once was. However, among mainstream Germans, especially those well versed in grammar and etiquette, the expressions remains in use. In business settings, there is some degree of controversy as some radicals prefer to use Frau as a generic title. However, those more familiar with proper etiquette recognize that the proper way by which to refer to a young lady or any unmarried woman is Fräulein. The use of the term came into disfavor among certain feminists groups during second-wave feminism, as "little" was seen as condescending towards women past school age.
Fräulein can be translated as Miss in English; Signorina in Italian; Mademoiselle in French; Senhorita in Portuguese; Señorita in Spanish; Maighdeann-uasal in Scottish Gaelic; and Iníon or Ógbhean-uasal in Irish.
Usage in culture
Literature and film have expressed the usage very well, in some cases already in the title. Examples are E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale Das Fräulein von Scuderi (1819), Elizabeth von Arnim's epistolary novel Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907), and the comedy film Fräulein vom Amt (1954), whose title was a common phrase denoting a female operator at a telephone exchange. In an earlier comedy film, Unser Fräulein Doktor (1940), Jenny Jugo plays Dr. Elisabeth Hansen, a young attractive teacher at a gymnasium who has to fight to be taken seriously as an intellectual.
In English-language film, fräulein has been used as a tip-off word that the actors are actually speaking German, despite it being English for the audience's sake.
"Fräulein" is also the title of a 1960s song sung in German by Chris Howland [1].