DEAR MISS MANNERS: My brother and I bought a home together a few years ago (I’ve never married, and he’s divorced). Christmas cards, invitations and other items intended for both of us often go to “John and Jim Doe”.

This seems to indicate that we are a couple. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to address the envelope with “John Doe and Jim Doe”?

I’m not a prude, and we both get a laugh out of the obvious faux pas, but am I right about how a letter should be addressed?

DEAR READER: It is far from Miss Manners to discourage a laugh, but to pair the names of siblings of the same address, without the least thought of any other relationship, is traditional. Only it would have been, correctly, “The Mrs. John and Jim Doe.”

(Send your questions to Miss Manners on her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or by mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)