The Right Honorable Lord Mayor?

May 9, 2005 3:11 AM

In a formal letter of appreciation, can one apply this form of address for the Lord Mayor of Helsinki? (The letter is in English.)

I've been given a list of people to whom I must write these letters and the title given for the mayor of Helsinki is "Honorable Lord Mayor". I'm still working on exactly how I use this on an envelope, letter and salutation.

posted by Dick Paris to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Debrett's Etiquette is for the British. You'll notice that there isn't a form of address for count. Don't use Right Honourable if the person isn't in a commonwealth country. If it were me I would just put "The Honorable Lord Mayor"—putting Right Worshipful might seem silly if it's not something they're used to.
posted by grouse at 3:36 AM on May 9, 2005

Best answer: Being from Helsinki, I second grouse. And Finnish people are very informal with such things. Moreover, going "wrong" on an English salutation will not matter that much since they potentially will not be sure what the right one is themselves ("Lord Mayor" sounds like it has just been just directly lifted from the City of London vocabulary).

I would therefore use "The Honourable Lord Mayor" on the envelope, then perhaps "Dear Lord Mayor" in the letter.
posted by keijo at 5:10 AM on May 9, 2005

One of the basic rules of etiquette is that you call people what they wish to be called. It's clear from the second page you link that she prefers to be referred to as the Lord Mayor. It's also clear from the first link that Lady Mayoress refers to a Mayor's wife, and to address her like that would be insulting.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:56 AM on May 9, 2005

Uh, jacquilynne, he linked to the "L" part of that list, not the entry for Lady Mayoress, and has been using the term "Lord Mayor" throughout, so I'm not sure where you get the idea he would call her the Lady Mayoress.
posted by grouse at 7:15 AM on May 9, 2005

The link when I clicked had Lady Mayoress right at the top. I assumed it was deliberate.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:08 AM on May 9, 2005

The link actually has "Lady (untitled)" at the top, as it's the first item that begins with L. I'd prefer to give Dick Paris the benefit of the doubt, but assume what you'd like.
posted by grouse at 12:03 PM on May 9, 2005

Response by poster: Looks like a I can piece this together without worries. Thanks for the help everyone.

The links were just to give some background info -- no implication to use "lady" was intended -- it is, as grouse noted, the first line on the "L" -- scrolling need be employed. Sorry for the red herring.
posted by Dick Paris at 1:44 PM on May 9, 2005

Get a grip, grouse. I wasn't accusing him oanything, no 'benefit of the doubt' was necessary. I read the question as 'So should I call her the lady mayoress or what?' because of the link, and clarified that no, he shouldn't call her the lady mayoress, because that would be insulting. As you made clear, that was not, in fact, the question he was asking, and I clarified why I had thought that.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:54 PM on May 9, 2005