Ma'am?

[firespirit]

How many others here dislike being called ma'am?

Is it just me?

When I was a server I was called Ma'am all the time, drove me nuts. I feel like I go out of my way to call a female server Miss instead of Ma'am.

There's just something auditorially unappealing to that word to me. I don't like the way it sounds. I guess it's supposed to be used out of respect, but it just sounds so crass to me.

[Docsgirl]

I don't like it. It makes me feel old. lol

My mom doesn't like it either, but half of my family is from the south, so it's kind of been ingrained in me since I was little that when we go to visit, it's always "Yes, Sir" "Yes, Ma'am" instead of calling my aunts, uncles, and grandparents "Aunt _____" "Uncle _____" or "Grandma" or "Grandpa" like we do with the family in the midwest. To them, it's totally the respect factor. That and the fact that my grandma from down south refuses to be called grandma. She thinks she's too young. ;) (She's 68.)

[MrsDM]

Ugh. I've been getting that so much lately. I hate and I agree with Tara, it makes me feel old!

On the flipside though, then I get people asking me if I'm going to prom, or "you don't look 21", or answering the phone, "Hi honey, is your mom there?!" :bbeek:

Can't there just be a happy medium!?

[SkippyNXC]

ha! yeah i hate ma'am unless it's like a little little kid saying it... then it's kinda cute... ;)

i rarely get ma'am tho b/c i look nothing like my actual age... i made in class the comment that 5 yrs ago i was mistaken a lot for a 17-18 yr old n my teacher said "not much has changed!" while i appreciate that... and HOPE that when i'm 37 i look like i'm 27... i still don't like being thought of as soo young... ppl are usually pretty shocked to hear i'm 27 yrs old... i'm still pretty shocked that i'm 27 LOL

i've decided there's no happy medium until i'm middle aged LOL

[amisteratwisterandme]

It doesn't bother me at all. I call men "Sir". To me, there aren't three different things to call adult men, just sir, so the same should apply to a female.

There is so much disrespect in the world now that I'm not going to argue when someone is trying to be respectful.

Of course, I'm not as young as you guys are! I do get carded ALL the time though.

[Danielle9608]

I am also rarely called Ma'am but when I am it doesn't really bother me. I think it bothers me more when an older person calls me Miss. Maybe it makes me feel like a child I guess ...

[Mrs.Goff]

You all would hate me then. haha When I was young my dad made me refer to ladies as ma'am and guys as sir. I call everyone one ma'am or sir if I don't know their name. Even the 16 year olds at the fast food place are ma'am or sir. haha DH is the same way.

[mitch]

In the UK we are lucky to even get a Please or a Thank You. So being called Ma'am wouldn't worry me.

The only time i would ever get called that is in high end stores. I never shop in those kind of stores so it's never going to happen LOL.
And even then it would be "Madam". Which whenever i do hear it said to others, i admit to cringing. It seems very out dated nowadays.

[kgvettegirl]

The last time I got carded was when I was 32. Now I'm afraid all I get called is ma'am. Although one day I got called a old lady. I was in the Vette and this kid in a ricer told his friend that "that old lady can't drive that car" Yeah, I showed him. No one calls me an old lady and gets away with it.

[sandy03]

I call everyone "ma'am" or "sir" because it was just the way i was raised. I actually like being on the receiving end, because to me it's just a sign of respect and good manners. When I was younger it was weird and made me laugh because I didn't feel like i was old enough for that, but now I really appreciate it. It's a lot nicer acknowledgment than just "yeah" or "whatever"!

I'm sure it's probably a cultural thing, growing up in the south! We don't call people Miss unless it's a part of their name/title!

[FFC]

While I use Ma'am and Sir, I am not too fond of being called that unless it's by a kid. Like some of you have said, it makes me feel old. However, I don't get irritated... I prefer Miss, but at least it's manners and not saying "hey you", or "dude" (in a professional environment).

[gwenshack]

I'm not a fan of "Ma'am", but I particularly hate being called "young lady" by random strangers. It really puts me off. :icon_barbar:

[Heywie]

I hate being called ma'am! It drives me crazy! The other day this teenager boy called me ma'am and I said, "Really? Do I really look that old to you?!"

He chuckled and said he didn't know what else to call people and what would I prefer? I felt like such a weirdo for calling him out!

[ChristineLS]

I particularly hate being called "young lady" by random strangers. It really puts me off. :icon_barbar:

Me too! :irked:

I really don't like being called "Miss". I'm not a girl, I'm a grown woman who is gainfully employed and pays her bills and makes her own decisions. Part of me really wants to tell the person who calls me "Miss" when I am married, "I'm sorry sir, but I'm married" (because it's always a man who calls that way...) Ma'am I'm actually more alright with. I look younger than I am, so I get under-guessed all the time, but young women don't get too much respect, and I'd rather be respected than liked or thought pretty, etc.

I use "Sir" but I just am otherwise polite to women because I know it's a touchy subject.

[pinkbride]

In the UK we are lucky to even get a Please or a Thank You. So being called Ma'am wouldn't worry me.

The only time i would ever get called that is in high end stores. I never shop in those kind of stores so it's never going to happen LOL.
And even then it would be "Madam". Which whenever i do hear it said to others, i admit to cringing. It seems very out dated nowadays.

I hear you!! lol ma'am, madam, miss, i wouldnt mind being called any of those things when being served lol!

I was talking to a girl from Canada who was working over here and she couldnt believe how we spoke to eachother lol..! I tell you I say it often but I am sure i will end up leaving and going to live somewhere else!!! x

[mitch]

I hear you!! lol ma'am, madam, miss, i wouldnt mind being called any of those things when being served lol!

I was talking to a girl from Canada who was working over here and she couldnt believe how we spoke to eachother lol..! I tell you I say it often but I am sure i will end up leaving and going to live somewhere else!!! x

I bit like saying "Good Morning" to someone. I do it everytime i pass someone in the coridoor at work. It never fails to amaze me the amount of times i'm ignored. Or looked at like i've just shat in their suitcase :rofl:

[ChristineLS]

I bit like saying "Good Morning" to someone. I do it everytime i pass someone in the coridoor at work. It never fails to amaze me the amount of times i'm ignored. Or looked at like i've just shat in their suitcase :rofl:

I also say good morning to strangers. Some are delighted, and some are quite the opposite! :bbeek:

[scarymary48]

I would rather be called ma'am then one of the six million other terms of endearment that we bandy about over here. I work in retail, in a high end fashion store, but at work on any given day, I can expect to be called all of the following:
Love
Lovey
Sweet
My sweet
Darling
Darl
Baby
Honey
Lady
Pet
Mate
OR alternatively, they will read my name badge and take it upon themselves to shorten my name and call me 'Sair', which to me is just waaaaaaaay to familiar. And the weird thing is? I am expected to use these names in return, instead of ma'am or miss or whatever. Yeah, doesn't happen.
This is everyone, by the way- men, women, kids, young, old. I think it's the part of Australia I am from, we have this whole 'look how relaxed we are' thing going on to suck in the tourists, but sheesh. I feel like behind closed doors, we could call each other ma'am.

[pinkbride]

I bit like saying "Good Morning" to someone. I do it everytime i pass someone in the coridoor at work. It never fails to amaze me the amount of times i'm ignored. Or looked at like i've just shat in their suitcase :rofl:

LOL!!!! hahahaha!!

[gwenshack]

I bit like saying "Good Morning" to someone. I do it everytime i pass someone in the coridoor at work. It never fails to amaze me the amount of times i'm ignored. Or looked at like i've just shat in their suitcase :rofl:

Yeah, I don't understand that. Every morning when I take a walk I pass other walkers and to every one of them I say "Hello" or "Good morning" as I pass - it's about 50/50 as to whether I even get a nod of recognition, nonetheless a proper greeting. I could just stop doing it, but then I'd feel like a heel. I can't just walk by somebody and pretend they don't exist.

[everpretty87]

Maybe it can shows respectable but I really do not like it!

[Bunnyfeet]

FH is in the Marines (or at least this is where he picked it up from) so it's "sir" and "ma'am" all the time to people he doesn't know very well.
But he started using "miss" a LOT more often when I informed him of why most women looked miffed by being called "ma'am" haha

I personally never use them because I find it far too confusing to know which to use. I am very polite otherwise so I figure that's more than enough lol

I have never been called ma'am... but I also look about 16. lol

I am in nursing school, though and the one thing that drives me crazy is when patients talk down to me (like "sweetie" "hun" etc... this is obviously disregarding the elderly because that's just different. I'm talking people my age or middle-aged.) Because yeah, I know I LOOK 16 but when I'm responsible for putting heavy-duty drugs in your IV I'd like to think I looked a little more respectable lol I don't think there's anything wrong with those names or people being familiar that way, more that I am well aware of how young I look but it doesn't change the seriousness of the job.

[WebLady]

I'm not a fan of "Ma'am", but I particularly hate being called "young lady" by random strangers. It really puts me off. :icon_barbar:
"Ma'am" has never bothered me, but I don't care for "young lady" ... I am a grown woman thank you ... though I wouldn't really say anything to any stranger that called me that, I would just have to roll my eyes ;) Now if I knew them and would otherwise get it all the time I would have to ask them to call me by my name ;)

I don't really like it when strangers call me other endearing names either; you don't know me well enough to call me darlin' or something like that. So yeah, Ma'am suits me just fine ;)

[date2wed]

I call everyone "ma'am" or "sir" because it was just the way i was raised. I actually like being on the receiving end, because to me it's just a sign of respect and good manners. When I was younger it was weird and made me laugh because I didn't feel like i was old enough for that, but now I really appreciate it. It's a lot nicer acknowledgment than just "yeah" or "whatever"!

I'm sure it's probably a cultural thing, growing up in the south! We don't call people Miss unless it's a part of their name/title!


I agree! It's out of respect and love sometimes:o.

[Nekochanpurr]

I usually say ma'am while i'm at work. Its a lot nicer than what i want to call half my customers.. XD

[mitch]

Thinking more about this. In the UK it depends on where in the country you are. Where i live we call females Madam if they are wearing a Wedding Band. But that's the snotty Southerners for ya LOL.

But if we really know them it's "Hun". My boss calls everyone "Darling".

Where DH is from all Females are "Pet" but that's a Northern thing. I remember the first time he called me Pet. It totally threw me. When talking of other females we know they become "Our Lass". When DH first called me that when talking to someone of the phone "I dunno, i'll have to ask our lass" i felt i finally belonged. :winktongue:

[lilmsjess]

I don't like it. It makes me feel old. lol

My mom doesn't like it either, but half of my family is from the south, so it's kind of been ingrained in me since I was little that when we go to visit, it's always "Yes, Sir" "Yes, Ma'am"

:rofl:
i get by with the "yessir" "yessem" thing!


i HATE being called ma'am i think it's reserved for WOMEN...i'm still a GIRL :rofl:....
or dear:snide: chris says it when hes patronizing me...butthead.....

[lilmsjess]

I am in nursing school, though and the one thing that drives me crazy is when patients talk down to me (like "sweetie" "hun" etc... this is obviously disregarding the elderly because that's just different. I'm talking people my age or middle-aged.) .


lol, "sweetie" is fighting words to me! the ONLY person i call "sweetie" is my stepdaughters mom! and she calls me that, but she calls EVERYONE that....she has no idea when she says it, i wanna magically travel through the phone line, and B*tch slap her! or just drown her.....either way:cloppy:

[pinkbride]

some girls I know call eachother mate!? but i find this weird.... maybe its a midland thang! I say babes quite a bit...x

[ChristineLS]

I usually say ma'am while i'm at work. Its a lot nicer than what i want to call half my customers.. XD

:rofl: Lol!

I tried to rep you on that. I used to work in a grocery store... and it's very true!