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Were you brought up to say Yes sir/ma’am?

It’s one of those things I had never considered to be SO American until today. I never did it as a kid but had a bunch of friends who would address their parents and other adults this way.

My kiddo used to have to say ‘yes sir’ or ‘yes ma’am’ when she was living with my aunt and uncle. I’ve told her she doesn’t have to anymore — wayyyy too formal for my liking — but she forgets sometimes and defaults back.

Today my (very British) Auntie told her to do something and she said “Yes ma’am!”. Everyone looked sooo confused. The other kids had clearly never even heard that before. My Auntie told her she can just say “Ok” or call her by her name 😂😂😂😂
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Valerian · 100+, M
Most of my friends & I were raised to say “Yes sir / ma’am!”, “No ma’am!”, “Excuse me ma’am!” and if their name was known then: "May I help you, Mrs. Slipperybottom?” and "Do you need help Mr. Wetfinger?“

Especially true for Teachers, Business People, Doctors, Neighbors. In some cases here, if your parent knew the person well, using their first name of the person like Mr. Billy, Miss Janice or Miz Martha was acceptable.

So unruly Brit brats just say, "Yep!" or "Nah" with zero honorific for Adults!?
Raffiki · 22-25, F
@Valerian All very formal!

If a kid wants to ask an adult whose name they don’t know a question, they will often just say “Excuse me? ‘Insert Q here’?” Other than that I don’t really know. If they know your (first) name they’ll just say that. I’ve heard “(kid’s name)’s mum?” and had a kid address me that way recently. Lol. Other than that just a simple “Yes” or “No” is used.