Sir or Madam

[Darth K'Trava]

I don't think I've ever been called Madam or M'am. Then again, people tend to think I'm a lot younger than I am. I get Miss a lot, which doesn't really bother or please me.

The one thing that does irritate me to no end is when a waitress calls me hon. As in, "What can I get ya, hon?". Ugh. That drives me batty.

Worse yet is those who call you "sweetie" or "baby"... especially old farts.

I ain't your sweetie nor your baby! Go the eff away with that crap!!

 

[reveal]

Worse yet is those who call you "sweetie" or "baby"... especially old farts.

I ain't your sweetie nor your baby! Go the eff away with that crap!!

Calm down, sweety.

 

[CronoDekar]

I find "sir" to be somewhat odd, but I've grown more used to it the more people have said it around me. I usually won't mind if someone calls me "dude" (supposing the setting isn't too formal), "man" is fine from anyone, and even "mate" would be fine -- though to be fair in American English it strikes me more as a "look I'm using a funny Australian term!" thing. What I really find odd though is when a stranger calls me "bro." I dunno about anyone else, but "bro" seems to me to require a certain level of familiarity. Though that said, even then it's not a huge deal.

When using the terms with strangers, I just leave them off most times. I always just find "sir" or "ma'am" too odd to use, but also find it kinda weird to use a familiar term. If I'm going to use one it'll probably be "dude" or "man."