Anyone else hate to be called "ma'am"?

I love to be called ma'am! And yes, I call all women that and I do it out of respect.

I do not like to be called ma'am. I realize that it's intended to be respectful but it makes me feel like I'm middle aged (I'm only 28). I'd rather be called "Ms"

Any ladies feel the same way?

YES! HATE IT!

What we guys need is an age-neutral term to refer to females without having to go through a formal interview process and file an application to say "good morning".

I mean, just LOOK at this thread. Look at the range of opinions, and understand that most of the men who will use these titles ARE NOT MIND READERS and cannot possibly know what offends you. And since, if any of us ever actually DO meet in person it will be probably once in our lifetimes, I simply do not have the mental capacity to remember the faces of the hundreds of thousands of people I talk to once to remember a preference that I will probably never have to recall again.

So, in the name of male humanity, I have a question of female humanity.

Can y'all please come up with ONE PERSONAL PRONOUN that means "absolute stranger of the feminine persuasion whom I have just met and know nothing about but must for some reason now address in a respectful fashion without making comment on nor expressing interest in their age or marital status because both are irrelevant to the conversation I am about to undertake."

I thought it was "ma'am" for adults, "miss" for children, with some wiggle room for us older male adults to talk to younger female adults. Obviously according to the majority on this thread, I (and every other guy trying to be polite and respectful to strangers that I know) is wrong in a large number of cases. But I don't have a better alternative.

Ma'am is still the acceptable pronoun. We do recognize your politeness even if we feel like someone's granny when you say it.

so thats how you spell ti , I tried googling it and couldnt find the correct spelling so I quit using it. oh well I will forget how to spell it again so I just wont use it. mam, mama, man, okay I give up, wont use that word never never.

I'm a sales associate. At work, I call nearly every woman "ma'am" unless they are clearly my age (22) or younger. Then I will call them "miss." But really calling any one more than 5 years older than me "miss" just seems disrespectful. It would be like someone calling me a little girl.

Not offended. I was raised in a military family and expect it, it's how I speak and my children have been taught to speak. Now have one of my children's friends call me by my first name and you will see an immediate change in my demeanor.

Why do you need a term at all, it's 2012? If you're trying to get someone's attention a simple "excuse me" will do and if you're greeting someone how about just "hello" are "how are you today?" That's how most people address everyone else except for the women they are rudely making age assumptions about?

Ma'am in my opinion is simply rude it's basically someone addressing someone based on their judgement or assumption of their physical appearance in some way. I'm not a feminist, but I do think it is sexist and rude to call woman ma'am then address a woman who is clearly older then her, behind her in line say...as "miss" because the next woman may be dressed a certain way or to address two friends of the same age differently (one as miss the other as ma'am) which is in such a case another incorrect assumption. The term is rude and outdated and in some circumstances quite insulting.

This term and it's usage baffles me to no end. I'm in my 30's and some days I'm getting carded and called miss or dear and on other days I'm being ma'am'd like their is no tomorrow and its' usually based on how I'm dressed or how much sleep I've gotten or whether or not my allergies are acting up (aka based on nothing more then how I'm looking that day). It's simply rude. Why should women have to be addressed based on how they look whilst everyone else...not so much. Use common sense and address all women the way you address everyone else (just leave that ma'am crap out).

ah, I like it.. It’s kind of sexy if it comes from a guy with a southern accent or wearing a military uniform!! :flowerforyou:

I completely agree. Love it!

Also, unless it was said with a rude tone, I would just take it as a sign of respect.

I don't mind it. It is a sign of respect no matter the age. I will teach my kids to say it and yes sir. Not enough kids now days have any respect so when someone says it I am impressed.

agreed!

hell yes! Im 27 so ya, I feel liek I should just retire and go live in florida being told that

the retirees go to south FL....all of us southern boys that will call you ma'am live in the northern part.

its all about how you are raised. if i didnt say "ma'am" or "sir" i wasnt acknowledged. now its automated in my answer.....accept at work.

We are teaching my son to say "sir" and "ma'am" to everyone. It's just respectful, so children saying it to me doesn't bother me. It also doesn't bother me if its a sales person or a waiter.

However, My husband and I got a much needed date night a few months ago and went to dinner and then to a movie. I was dressed up cute, probably had a glass of wine with dinner.. feeling like when back when we were dating.... then a teenage boy approached me and called me about saving some seats or something and was all about the yes ma'am and no ma'am... and all I could think was "I'm only 10 years older than you, you should not call me ma'am"

Took the wind right outta my sails.

And what would you have rather he called you? Regardless of age, it's respect. Respect for a female.

I've said Ma'am to a 19 y/o (I'm 28) and a 50 y/o, or a 25 y/o.

Respect knows no age.

I think that many people have forgotten that Ma'am is a term of respect. At work many people use Sir for other guys so when they speak to me or another woman it goes from Sir to Ma'am.

I am not from an area or a family where Sir and Ma'am are used so it is still strange for me to hear it. But as I've traveled, I have come to realize that both are terms of respect. And actually, some of the people at work use it as a greeting almost.

yeah. call me miss. ma'am is sooo matronly!

"Ma'am" might be bad but "Signora" absolutely takes the biscuit! I was on the receiving end of that one when I was in Italy some years ago. Clearly I'm still not over it :grumble:

Then of course there's always "Sir". Get that on the phone quite a bit, and that kinda sucks too.

I don't mind it at all. It's a sign of respect.

I used to be carded till I was 32 years old. Now I don't need to bring ID with me!

It's very common down here. It took me a few months to get used to it (I'm a total northerner, haha) but now I rather like it. I don't mine miss or ma'am, but prefer darlin'.