# In which cultures are you expected to address everyone, even strangers, with familial honorifics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529 "2026-03-17T19:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/1 "2026-03-17T19:41:33Z")
It seems to be _de rigeur_ in India to use familial honorifics when addressing, well, just about anybody. For example, Raj addresses an older South Asian man in _The Big Bang Theory_, as “grandfather.” Similarly, an Indian friend of mine always, **always** referred to me as “Aaron Bhai (Brother Aaron).” And of course, any Indian comedian will tell you all about the “aunties” and “uncles” up in his business. Apparently this is also a thing in Malaysia, as a popular Malaysian YouTuber refers to cooks he respects as “Uncle \_ **\_”** or “Auntie \ __\__ ”, and those he doesn’t as “Nephew \_\_” or “Niece \_\_\_\_.” And then where was the video I saw that took place in (I want to say Taiwan) where a little girl addressed another girl (an older teen) as “Sister\_\_\_\_\_” What other cultures use this form of address? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/2 "2026-03-17T19:55:39Z")
I’ve lived in both India and Malaysia, and those are the places I know of where it’s de rigueur (in addition to Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Singapore). More generally, it’s common in a broad swath of Africa and Asia that is basically anywhere not Europe. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/3 "2026-03-17T20:06:30Z")
Several South African cultures, including my birth culture - Coloured. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/4 "2026-03-17T20:08:36Z")
It’s a very common thing in Ghana ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/5 "2026-03-17T20:09:15Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What other cultures use this form of address? I’ve seen this in some Native American cultures. My kids are native on their mother’s side, and have a lot of honorary “aunties” and “cousins.” ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/6 "2026-03-17T20:18:30Z")
Aboriginal Australian culture uses ‘Uncle’ and ‘Auntie’ for older people, ‘cuz’ (cousin) for same cohort, along with brother and sister terms for non-siblings. This is a very simplified version of their traditional genealogical terminology, which also applied kin terms to all people, not just actual kin and your close circle of acquaintances. ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/7 "2026-03-18T04:28:34Z")
Huge in Philippine culture, Ate/Kuya (older sister/older brother), Tita/Tito (aunt/uncle), Lola/Lolo (grandma/grandpa), Ina/Tatay (mom/dad.) Basically anywhere reverence can be used, it is. In everyday conversation with complete strangers. Groups of unrelated kids become “cousins.” It’s extremely common that an older pinoy/pinay co-worker would be nicknamed Kuya/Ate to everyone at said workplace. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/8 "2026-03-18T04:51:24Z")
When I was a kid, here in the US, it was not done for children to call adults be their first names, so always Mr & Mrs, unless they were very close friends of your parents (and no, I don’t mean people they were dating), in which case, they might be “aunt” or “uncle.” If they were honorary aunts or uncles of your parents, you might call them “grandma” or “grandpa.” My own grandparents were saba/safta on one side, and zayde/bobbe on the other, so my only grandmas & grandpas were the honorary ones. It was also common, around the same time, for older men to address younger ones as “Son.” You see it in the movies all the time. It was never as strong an inclination here as maybe someplace else, but it happened here too. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/9 "2026-03-18T04:53:04Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I was a kid, here in the US, it was not done for children to call adults be their first names, so always Mr & Mrs, unless they were very close friends of your parents (and no, I don’t mean people they were dating), in which case, they might be “aunt” or “uncle.” This was my experience also. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/10 "2026-03-18T07:49:12Z")
Don’t many Western cultures have the concept of an “uncle by courtesy”, whereby people would address an older male whom they’ve known closely since childhood as uncle even if there is no actual kinship? There’s not exactly a requirement or expectation to do so, but my impression is that it’s not rare at all. (This is, IIRC, how Duke’s character was introduced into _Doonesbury_). ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/11 "2026-03-18T07:58:44Z")
The most common honorifics in Indonesian are synonymous with “mother” and “father.” If you wanted to get the attention of a person you didn’t know - someone you’d call out “Ma’am?” or “Sir?” to in English - you’d use words that also mean mother/father. There’s more; Indonesia has a lot of honorifics and you basically never call anyone by just their name whereas you always use terms that frequently translate to bro, cuz, sis, auntie, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/12 "2026-03-18T09:32:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > If you wanted to get the attention of a person you didn’t know - someone you’d call out “Ma’am?” or “Sir?” to in English - you’d use words that also mean mother/father. Well, the word “sir” has at etymology that means “from the loin,” I think. So in other words, “father.” “Ma’am” is from “madam,” which is "my dam, " or “lady,” but in domesticated mammals, the mother of a particular off-spring is often termed its “dam.” I don’t know which usage came first. So while “sir” and “ma’am” may not resonate with people the way calling the “Mom” and “Dad” as honorifics would, the origin may be the same, the language my just have evolved without the honorifics doing so, if that makes sense. As another example, on the \*Mary Tyler Moore Show," the character Bess (Phyllis’ daughter) who was 9 or 10 who the show premiered, called Mary “Aunt Mary.” This sounded normal and natural in 1970, considering that Phyllis and Mary already had a relationship when the show starts. Ironically, as a progressive mother, Phyllis has he daughter call her “Phyllis,” not “Mom,” but knows better than to expect other people to follow suit. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/13 "2026-03-18T09:59:45Z")
_Sir_ is from Latin _senior_, which just means ‘older’. _Madam_ from _mea domina_, ‘my lady’. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/14 "2026-03-18T11:48:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Well, the word “sir” has at etymology that means “from the loin,” I think. Never heard of this. To my knowledge, “sir” comes from French “seignieur”, which comes from Latin “senior”, which is a comparative that means “older” and derives, in turn, from “senex”, meaning “old man”. There might be more distant etymology going back to a root related to loins, but it’d be a very obscure one. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/15 "2026-03-18T11:55:54Z")
My Filipino cow-orker/friend of many years always calls me Mang (name) and I always refer to her as Aling (name). It makes me feel honored, as I am the only non-Filipino she does that with. mmm ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/16 "2026-03-18T12:39:28Z")
I think it’s really common in many cultures for children to be expected to address certain adults as “uncle” or “aunt” rather than by first name or Mr or Mrs , but I think the OP is about something a little different. It seems to be referring to adults addressing/referring to friends or even strangers using terms for family relationships. But I wonder if this is an example of addressing people by familial terms , or is it more that there are no familial terms in their native language. Words often don’t have exact translations - in English my uncle might be my father’s older brother his younger brother or his sister’s husband. And the same for corresponding relatives on my mother’s side. While in other languages, each of those people has a differnt title. It’s possible that in some languages, every older man is “Sir” , including one’s father and uncles ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/17 "2026-03-18T13:02:46Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I was a kid, here in the US, it was not done for children to call adults be their first names, so always Mr & Mrs, unless they were very close friends of your parents (and no, I don’t mean people they were dating), in which case, they might be “aunt” or “uncle.” IME, kids nowadays tend to call their friends’ parents “[Friend’s name’s] mom/dad” when talking about them, and nothing at all when talking to them. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/18 "2026-03-18T14:24:34Z")
Do the American “Bro” or “Bruh” count? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/19 "2026-03-18T14:34:34Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I was a kid, here in the US, it was not done for children to call adults be their first names, Anecdote (this takes place in Springfield, Illinois c. 2010): I was the chess coach\* at a private school. As I was just a volunteer who got the job by virtue of being a FOAF of the phys ed teacher (who also handled other inter-scholastic competitions), and didn’t teach at the school, I didn’t expect the kids to call me “Mr. MyLastName,” and instead just had them call me “Aaron,” my name. This was hunky-dory with the parents, the phys ed teacher, and everyone else with any investment in this situation (we’re informal in the Midwest) … until it wasn’t. A family moved from the Mid Atlantic and one of their kids joined the team. When his mother heard him call me “Aaron,” she about shit her pants. Long story short: that is Not Done in the Mid Atlantic. The most informal address a kid would use, when addressing _any_ adult, would be “Mr. FirstName.” \*I have no business coaching anybody at chess, and my job was basically to be a warm body and make sure the kids got to tournaments, etc. I _did_ teach them algebraic notation and the most basic of basic strategies (you know: castle early, don’t bring out the Queen until you’ve castled, control the center, etc.) and tactics (pins, forks & skewers). ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529/20 "2026-03-18T15:18:05Z")
I think Japanese qualifies for this kind of address. The way the words are used depends somewhat on your relative ages. For example, if you are a teenager you might call any non-old adult stranger by the words for uncle or aunt. I think those are the most common cases, but there are also similar uses for older brother and older sister, and grandfather/old man and grandmother/old woman (although these last ones require somewhat more sensitivity and care to use properly). If the speaker knows anything about the person, they are more likely to address them or refer to them by job title or other identifying role or characteristic (e.g. “okyaku-san” for visitor or customer). I once saw an American with some knowledge of Japanese insult a youngish female store clerk by calling her “oku-san” which means married woman (“wife”), and would generally be used for someone closer to middle age. Anyway, she acted insulted after he left. eta: it seems relevant to clarify that these forms of address are generally limited to people you don’t know, or know well, or if you are discussing someone that you know but the other person doesn’t. And that I am not a native Japanese speaker. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-cultures-are-you-expected-to-address-everyone-even-strangers-with-familial-honorifics/1028529.md?page=2)