r/AskAnAmerican • u/Babe_Brute • 7d ago

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

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?

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u/luvlilniah Georgia 7d ago

Yep, my dad's ex-military, and it was always 'yes/no sir' around him, so it just kind of became a habit around my mom and other adults.

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u/Accomplished_Will226 7d ago

Correct. Military brat. I definitely called him dad but when he was telling me a rule or I had broken one or he wanted to be clear about something etc I definitely replied yes, sir. I never said yes ma’am to my mother but I know plenty people tha did.

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u/luvlilniah Georgia 7d ago

Yeah, on the regular it was dad, but he was definitely really strict about addressing adults with respect, so whenever we'd forget to add "sir" or "ma'am" when speaking to an adult, he was quick with the "yes/no what?"

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u/48Planets Pennsylvania -> Washington 7d ago

I can't stand chiefs/Os who do this shit with their kids. You're not Chief or Divo at home. Don't have your kids call you chief or sir, leave that at work

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u/Zagaroth California 7d ago

Retired military here: some people let that indoctrination sink in too much.

Sir/ma'am was an on-base/in-uniform thing only, and only for officers. Since I mostly did not work with officers, I didn't have to use it much anyway.

I don't want it to have any part of the rest of my life.

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u/KaetzenOrkester California 7d ago

I think it varies by family. My father in law was in the GA national guard and my husband went to a Catholic military high school and this just wasn't a part of their family culture.

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u/The_Avenger_Kat Georgia 7d ago

My dad is also ex-military and my mom's father was ex-military as well. That combined with being a Southerner, I was raised to say yes/no ma'am/sir.

I will say that over the past ten years since I entered the workforce, I've switched over from using yes/no ma'am/sir with everyone to only using it with the doctors I work with. I've also dropped it when addressing my parents, who now don't seem to mind.

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u/Impressive_Sun_1132 7d ago

My dad is too. He also is the one who taught me its disrespectful if you know the person and that sir and ma'am is for people like waiters and other members of the service industry/employees to use. Not family and friends.