What??? The NERVE of him!! Calling you a respectful title??? The little punk!
More seriously, the PROPER thing to do is call a superior or older person “Sir” or “Mr. So-and-so” until he tells you to call him something else.
In this case, an employee has been calling his boss “Sir” for months, and it appears that nobody’s told him to stop it. So, why would anyone expect him to stop on his own?
If you dislike being called “Sir,” tell him that. Tell him that “Sir” is a little too stiff and formal, and you’d rather be called “Mr. Smith.” Or if you prefer, tell him “We’re pretty informal around here- why don’t you just call me Joe.”
But if you don’t want to be called “Sir,” it’s up to YOU to set the kid straight. Don’t wait for him to get tired of being courteous.
i will refer to males with a ‘yes sir’ when answering a question/request. but i do it in a a sexy, submissive voice. most men do not expect this, but it’s fun.
I was raised up north too, but age factors into it; they need to be older than I am to prompt me to use the title. I wouldn’t call someone “sir” if he wasn’t at least in his 30s. The same thing goes for ma’am.
I don’t call anyone “Sir”, customers (I work for a dept store) or not.
They’re not any better than I, no matter how many years older they are. The sooner we get rid of such antiquated notions, the better. It’s simply another class system waiting to be torn down.
Seriously, why is an older person so respectable that you need to call him “sir?” “Mr. so-and-so” I can understand, but “sir?”
Not sure why you seem to think “sir” and “Mr. X” indicate different levels of respect. Anyway, “sir” is noticeably shorter, often a plus in the flow of discourse.
I don’t call anyone “Sir”…They’re not any better than I, no matter how many years older they are.
It’s a title of respect, not of superiority. Who pissed in your Cheerios?
I don’t work with customers, so usually “sir” and “ma’am” are what I used when I’m trying to get someone’s attention – like when the customer ahead of you in the grocery store leaves one of his or her bags, I’ll say “Sir (or ma’am), you forgot your bag.” People don’t always turn around for that, leaving me calling plaintively, “Sir? Sir?..”
I generally call people “gentlemen” or “ladies” when greeting two or more – it used to crack up the kids next door (other half of the twin) when I’d come up on the porch and say “Gentlemen, how are you today?” as I let myself into my front door. I also do it in other situations when I’m entering a room of people I know well – when I go back to say good morning to my two female underlings, I’ll say “Ladies, how are you this lovely morning?” It’s playful but respectful.
I’m excessively polite. On the job, for quite a while, I called all my customers Sir or Ma’am, as in, “Excuse me, sir, would you move your feet so I can sweep there?” Then one day, the bartender/waitresses at my favorite watering hole told me, through clenched teeth, that they were not old enough to be called “ma’am.” Furthermore, they would both smack me if I persisted. That was enlightening, and I’ve changed my ways.
when do you stop calling someone sir?
when you know their name.
when they ask you to.
if they have a title to use instead; Father, Dr, Professor, Reverend etc.
and only use madam with ladies over 60. the rest of us don’t like it.
Personally, I generally refer to any adult male that I don’t know as ‘sir’, and moreso when it’s somebody older than me. And I don’t really expect to stop.
Urban Ranger, gex gex, I don’t think “sir” or “ma’am” is a sign of superiority. It’s a sign of respect and until you prove otherwise, I’m going to assume that you’re worthy of my respect. Besides, if I don’t know your name, what am I supposed to call you? Likewise, I don’t freak out if someone calls me “ma’am.” They’re just trying to be polite.
I use “Sir” or “Ma’am” if I don’t know somebody’s name, unless they’re very young (I usually address 5-year-olds as “shorty” or 2-year-olds as “baldy”), or not particularly deserving of respect (in which case I’ll use “Hey you” or some variant). For people who are approximately my age in casual settings (I’m 22) I’ll usually drop the subject (or is it an object?) and just use “Hey” or “Yo” or “`Sup” or whatever. If there were a better informal system of address then I’d use it, but English only seems to have “formal,” “rude,” and “ad hoc” systems of address.
My difficulty is always in figuring out whether I should address an older person whose name I know as “Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof So-And-So” or whether I should use their first name.
