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do you use the terms "sir" and "maam"?

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do you use the terms "sir" and "maam"?

  • Total voters
    52
Only if/when trying to garner the attention of someone not already looking at me, that I do not know. I am not in the military, and this is not 1940. I typically will attempt getting their attention first with just an, "excuse me" and if they don't hear or respond, then I'll use "sir" or "ma'am" to try to get them to look at me.
 
olds said:
Of course. I am not some backwoods cretin.
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I believe the Right-Honorable Sir Backwoods-Cretin is one of the most senior members of the House of Lords. His manners are immaculate. Intense stupidity, coupled with the aforesaid good manners, has been the distinguishing family trait of the Backwoods-Cretins since at least the Norman Conquest.
 
pmv said:
I believe the Right-Honorable Sir Backwoods-Cretin is one of the most senior members of the House of Lords. His manners are immaculate. Intense stupidity has been the distinguishing family trait of the Backwoods-Cretins since at least the Norman Conquest.
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Intense stupidity has been the distinguishing trait of the entire House of Lords.
 
I do once in a while, but try not to so I vote no. People have names. If you know a person's name, use it if you must, not sir/mam. I don't like being called "sir." So, I don't do it in general.
 
Muse said:
I do once in a while, but try not to so I vote no. People have names. If you know a person's name, use it if you must, not sir/mam. I don't like being called "sir." So, I don't do it in general.
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So .... "hey you" is preferable? 😉
 
I guess I was taught a certain way to understand authority....

If I get pulled over, I'm officially a cop's bitch. Yes Sir. Yes Ma'am to everything. Worst thing that can happens is I get the standard ticket I was pulled over for - best thing that can happen is that they appreciate it and let me off. Never know, could be worth it.

I also got in deep shit at work once upon a time a while back and had to answer to the head-honcho company partner;. I explained my rationale and answered to him in Yes sir....I didn't even mean to - it was just a pissed off high-up guy and I felt like a subordinate and naturally responded with sir.




Also just depends on the conversation - if I'm with a random person I'll say (in a very casual way) Yeeeeeesssssir or Yesssssss Ma'am. Basically showing respect, but also keeping ti casual.
 
pmv said:
I find when being called 'sir', I hear it with an undertone of aggressive sarcasm.
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We had an American doctor at work a while back that used Sir, Maam and Miss all the time and he managed to piss off just about everyone by doing it.
Mind you it might just have been him coming across like a total arse in general.
It's hard to say if those two things were linked.
 
Almost every day. Very commonly both at work and in my personal life. I used "sir" twice this morning.

It's not just the words themselves, of course, certainly intonation and non verbals play a large (larger?) part.

Lack of appreciation use/reception of non verbals is a much bigger problem that I anecdotally notice among my and younger generations (I'm an older millennial). A whole lot of low self monitors.
 
brianmanahan said:
not around where i live

or if it was, every single person born in the 1920s and 30s that i know ignored it

the only people who say it here are the older ones that moved up from the south for jobs
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I spent most of my childhood living on or near USAF bases...followed by 4 years in the USMC. "Sir" or"ma'am" were words I heard and used every day...and still use...occasionally.
 
Captante said:
So .... "hey you" is preferable? 😉
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No, I said if you know their name use it instead of Sir or Mam. I never go Hey You.

Now, I think it's partly a cultural thing. In some places it's customary to use Sir or ma'am, so I can't speak to that, of course, because I don't live in such a place. You do hear it here but no doubt partly because I live in an incredibly diverse locale and there are people from ALL OVER living here. This place is NOT provincial AT ALL. I personally usually do not like being called 'sir.'
 
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