# How does one address a 'Sir'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660 "2009-10-21T21:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/1 "2009-10-21T21:09:21Z")
If I am talking to a man who has been Knighted, how should I address him over the phone? The reason I ask is that I was talking to a moron at work on the phone and instead of calling him Mr Smith I was calling him ‘Sir’. He said to me that he was offended by being called ‘Sir’ as he had not been Knighted. He was not joking. I was going to reply that if he had been Knighted I would not have been addressing him as ‘Sir’. But then I thought if that was correct. I do not know . ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/2 "2009-10-21T21:15:11Z")
I think the guy is just being contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/3 "2009-10-21T21:15:41Z")
I know the proper way to address the man you were on the phone with is “Asshole”, if that helps. You’d call a knight sir as you would any male in a formal setting, as in “Excuse me, sir.” If you were writing him a letter, you would address it to “Sir Sidney Portier.” Ditto if you were introducing him to somebody else. You would substitute “Mr.” with “Sir” and add “Sir” in front of his first name if you were just using that (“Sir Sidney”). Of course, you would follow his preference if he had one. ETA - if you were addressing a letter to him and his wife, you’d say “Sir Sidney and Lady Portier”. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/4 "2009-10-21T21:16:36Z")
Sir is appropriate for a British knight. In the Military we (the enlisted folk) joke - Don’t call me “Sir”, I work for a living. - A reference that we call officers “Sir.” ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/5 "2009-10-21T21:16:40Z")
The generally accepted form is “Sir” followed by his Christian name, so Sir John Buchanan-Riddell, former13th Baronet and Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, would be “Sir John” until such time as he invited one to drop the title. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/6 "2009-10-21T21:17:24Z")
The only time that I’ve had occassion to address a “Sir”, I addressed him as “Vice Chancellor”. But, in general, you would address a knight as “Sir X”, where “X” is his given name. So in this case I could have addressed him as “Sir Philip” – but I was a mere student, and he was the Vice Chancellor of my university. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/7 "2009-10-21T21:20:13Z")
What exactly do you mean? Are you talking about if he asks “Is the Peterson report done?” and you’d say, “Yes, sir.”? or are you calling him “Sir Smith” or something? Anyway, if you’re talking about Sir John Smith, you’d call him, “Sir John” or “Sir John Smith”. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/8 "2009-10-21T21:25:34Z")
And, of course, “sir” is a perfectly acceptable thing to call a man. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sir](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sir) > [@](#): > > sir >   /sɜr/ [sur] > –noun > > 1. a respectful or formal term of address used to a man: No, sir. ---
**Author:** ![HawksPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@HawksPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HawksPath)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/9 "2009-10-21T21:36:15Z")
It depends what country you’re in and where the person was knighted. If you live in the U.S. we don’t officially recognize royalty and thus you could call the knight McKermit, “Mr. McKermit”. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/10 "2009-10-21T21:39:20Z")
What if the person goes by a stage name? Is it “Sir Elton” or “Sir Reginald,” for instance? If knighthood was ever in the offing, would it be Sir Barry or Sir Edna? Or Sir Dame Edna? Worst-case scenario: What if the Queen wanted to honor Sting? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/11 "2009-10-21T21:44:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What if the person goes by a stage name? Is it “Sir Elton” or “Sir Reginald,” for instance? If knighthood was ever in the offing, would it be Sir Barry or Sir Edna? Or Sir Dame Edna? Although she lives in the body of a man, she’s just “Dame Edna”. In the British ranks of peerage and gentry, a “Sir” is always a man, and the female equivalent is a “Dame”. (And since Dame Edna Everage is an Australian, it’s not clear to me how the Queen of Australia bestowed that honour on her, since HM no longer gives out knighthoods or the like to her Australian subjects). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/12 "2009-10-21T21:55:33Z")
You’re under no obligation to recognize knighthoods. I would address people who have received them the same way I would address anyone else — by their first name alone, as “Mr./Ms. Lastname”, or as plain old “sir/madam”, depending on the circumstances, and whether I knew their first or last names. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/13 "2009-10-21T21:59:43Z")
I used to know a bona fide knight. I called him John. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/14 "2009-10-21T22:17:36Z")
> [@HawksPath](#): > > It depends what country you’re in and where the person was knighted. If you live in the U.S. we don’t officially recognize royalty and thus you could call the knight McKermit, “Mr. McKermit”. “Sir” isn’t royalty. And yes, you could call him something other than what he prefers to go by, but that would be extraordinarily rude, and you’d have no complaint if he decided to call you something other than which you choose to go by. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/15 "2009-10-21T22:24:28Z")
On _The Tudors_, it was always “Your Grace”, except the king: “Your Majesty” or sometimes just “Majesty” if you were either very close, grovelling, or both. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/16 "2009-10-21T22:30:23Z")
[“Your Grace” is for Archbishops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forms_of_address_in_the_United_Kingdom). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/17 "2009-10-21T22:36:57Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Although she lives in the body of a man, she’s just “Dame Edna”. In the British ranks of peerage and gentry, a “Sir” is always a man, and the female equivalent is a “Dame”. > > (And since Dame Edna Everage is an Australian, it’s not clear to me how the Queen of Australia bestowed that honour on her, since HM no longer gives out knighthoods or the like to her Australian subjects). Wasn’t it “conferred” on her by Gough Whitlam in one of those appalling 1970s films? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/18 "2009-10-21T23:09:33Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > [“Your Grace” is for Archbishops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forms_of_address_in_the_United_Kingdom). And Dukes… and used to be used for Kings. (until Henry VIII?). ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/19 "2009-10-21T23:17:04Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > You’re under no obligation to recognize knighthoods. Really? No obligation in the UK to recognize a UK Knighthood? (OK, I don’t usually do this…) Could you offer a cite please? > [@](#): > > I would address people who have received them the same way I would address anyone else — by their first name alone, as “Mr./Ms. Lastname”, or as plain old “sir/madam”, depending on the circumstances, and whether I knew their first or last names. Well yes, you _can_… and you can call a Doctor “Mr/Ms. Lastname” too and if you meet the Queen you can call her “Mrs. Windsor”… but it doesn’t make it correct does it? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660/20 "2009-10-21T23:20:59Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > And yes, you could call him something other than what he prefers to go by, but that would be extraordinarily rude, and you’d have no complaint if he decided to call you something other than which you choose to go by. Insisting to be called by a particular given name is quite different to insisting that people use a particular honorific. Would you honestly consider yourself to be “extraordinarily rude” if you refused to address me as “His Most Serene and Holy Majesty, Psychonaut the Great, Herder of the Magnificent Mustelids and Annoyer of Candymen”? I think that if I were to insist on such a form of address, most people would think nothing of unapologetically laughing in my face. It’s only classist tradition that permits royalty and nobility (and to a lesser extent, those with whom they wish to associate themselves via knighthood) to get away with that sort of thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-address-a-sir/514660.md?page=2)