"Leader DeLay"??? What's up with that?

[James C Stalker]

I grew up in KY, did my undergrad degree at UNC, and moved to NYC in 1962
for my first job (non-academic).  I addressed a woman (Mrs. Bussel) who
worked in the office with me as ma'am for some time.  She was "older,"
probably in her 40s.  I was being polite.  She finally told me to stop
calling her ma'am, because she was not my grandmother.

Jim

Beverly Flanigan writes:

> I knew I'd get a rise out of this one!  My students think "Ma'am" is
> terribly old-fashioned and actually do laugh when I bring it up.  But we
> on
> the list ARE older, and yes, I use it in stores too and then feel, well,
> old.  I'm also aware that it's more common in the South, where polite
> children, black and white, say "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir" regularly.
>
> At 08:57 PM 5/15/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>
>>> LOL! I not only hear it, I say it! (I also say "Sir" - both of them
>>> often
>>> in the courtroom).
>>
>> I've been thinking about that. I always use "ma'am" with respect. And I
>> often use "sir" with respect. But sometimes I use "sir" as a means of
>> providing distance or separation.
>>
>> As a lad I had a friend who grew up in a Virginia family. He called his
>> father "Sir".
>>
>> D
>



James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University