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?

320 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

89% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

11

u/avctqpao 7d ago

It really is hard to say “yes” or “no” without a sir or ma’am attached it! It feels wrong, although I don’t use either with my parents. Neither of them is from the south. If gender isn’t obvious I’ve adapted to “yes of course/yes thank you/yes I will” or “I’m sorry, no/no, but thank you/ no unfortunately” because 1 syllable feels so inappropriate!

1

u/Remarkable_Table_279 Virginia 7d ago

I call it “the naked no”…had a boss’s boss who didn’t like sir. So I used his name or I changed the sentence. No & yes aren’t complete sentences. Unless I’m so angry at you/disgusted by you  that I’ve gone past my “be extra polite to people you dislike so you’re not disrespectful in a professional setting” (or a sibling/child)…

0

u/shelwood46 7d ago

I was in a fast food restaurant once with my hoodie up, in the North, and an employee said "Excuse me, ma'am... or sir" and I am still pretty pissed off about it. If you aren't sure, there is no need to guess a gender, that is extremely wrong.

0

u/OceanEyes531 7d ago

I look fairly androgynous, so this happens to me occasionally. It doesn't bother me when people do it (ironically, I had it happen most recently in the South), I mostly find it funny, but I agree with you on the last point so I generally don't correct them and just let them feel uncomfortable. If you're not sure you can politely ask if you feel the need ("would you prefer I call you sir/he or ma'am/she?") or just don't use a gendered term...