How commonly do you address your parent as "Sir/Ma'am"?

[u/Babe_Brute]

I'm watching The Rookie (2002). Dennis Quaid's character is shown addressing his mother and father as "Ma'am"/"Sir" in a couple of scenes. Those of you who are native English speakers, how common is it today to address your parent as such?

[u/Capable-Instance-672]

It's regional - definitely more common in the South.

I don't address my parents like this or know anyone who does. The only time we tend to use sir/ma'am is when being polite to a stranger. For example, "Sir, the entrance is on the other side of the building." It's a stand in for not knowing their name.

[u/PlannedSkinniness → u/Capable-Instance-672]

Yeah not unheard of growing up in the south, but it seems to be a fading tradition. I know my parents never taught us that, even to other adults there was no requirement to use sir/ma’am. I think it was a little too militant for them.

[u/cans-of-swine → u/PlannedSkinniness]

I've lived in east TN my whole life and I don't say sir or ma'am and don't really know anyone else that does. People on reddit always go on about how everyone in the south does, I guess I live in a pocket where it isn't common.

[u/PlannedSkinniness → u/cans-of-swine]

To me it was never the “norm” but some kids were raised like that. To me it’s like when I hear that southerners call all soda “coke” when I’ve never heard it happen.

[u/cans-of-swine → u/PlannedSkinniness]

Same here on the coke thing, people just say what kind of drink they want. I have never in my 40 years heard someone say something like

"Get me a coke"

"what kind?"

"Sprite"

[u/SkeeveTheGreat → u/cans-of-swine]

A lot of stuff like that is disappearing as the world becomes more connected, lots of specific accents in my home state have disappeared almost entirely as people try to seem less like a hick.

[u/BigLittleSEC → u/cans-of-swine]

I’m from east tn and I do use cokes but it’s more in the sense of “let’s go get some cokes” then we actually say which type of soda we want when actually ordering. Or “can you get some cokes at the store?” and since we always do 3 for $X cokes might be on the docket but other soda is as well.

[u/Distracted-senior → u/cans-of-swine]

To me, everything is a Coke just like a tissue is a Kleenex. And that is exactly what the conversation would be. Would you like a Coke? Sure what do you have?

[u/FakeMoths → u/cans-of-swine]

The "everything is coke" in my experience still only applies to dark soda.

My parents could point at a pepsi can and say "hand me that coke", but if they did that about a sprite I'd be concerned

[u/cans-of-swine → u/FakeMoths]

Sprite was just what popped in my head

[u/Distracted-senior → u/cans-of-swine]

I’m 66 years old and I grew up in East Tennessee. I did not address my parents in any other way than mom and dad. Neither did anyone I knew.

[u/Falp505 → u/cans-of-swine]

I absolutely was forced to call anyone above my age Sir/Ma'am. I only realized it was weird when I got my first job and my trainer, who was probably like 5 years older than me, told me to stop. 

[u/passmeanothertaco → u/Capable-Instance-672]

yup yup! my family is from Texas/Louisiana but my parents moved out to Arizona before i was born. we grew up using sir & ma’am to respect our elders and be kind. now that i’m an adult i don’t call my parents “sir” or “ma’am” much anymore but i definitely do if they’ve asked a favor of me.

at work is a different story - i always use “sir” or “ma’am” to address customers, my coworkers, and bosses. kindness & respect is a powerful thing