[Ads-l] unisex "Sir"

[James A. Landau]

A female US Army captain whom I worked with in 1972 told me "WAC officers are used to being called 'sir'."

The standard way of answering a telephone when I was in the Army was "[unit name] Private x speaking, sir!" or for the orderly room at night 
"[unit name] Charge of Quarters speaking, sir!".  I'm sure that many an enlisted man must have continued using "sir" in the conversation even after discovering the caller was female.

What's wrong with a female earning a Master's Degree?  What female would object to an MS after her name?

Doesn't anybody remember that in the Peanuts comic strip, Marcy always calls Peppermint Patty "sir" (this appeared in the past Sunday's New York Times crossword puzzle).

   - Jim Landau

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