The real challenge is with “ma’am” and “sir.” If you work in customer service or were taught as a child to respond to adults with “Yes, ma’am” and “Thank you, sir,” like many of us raised in or transplanted to the South, it’s difficult to stop using these terms. Do you guys call people sir still?
I called what was seemingly a cis male sir at the grocery store today. They gave me a weird reaction and I realized it was a trans woman. It got me thinking, is it even okay to call people sir anymore on the off chance sir could be offended? Obviously asking for someone's gender at the grocery store is weird. I call him 'sir', but that's of my own will.
He'll call my name from the next room and I'll obnoxiously and jokingly answer 'Yessuh' or 'Sir.' and they look at me like I'm nuts. Or he'll hold the remote out of my reach while we're playing around and being childish with each other and say 'nuh uh, not till you say sir.' real jokingly. What to say instead:” out gay man,” “out lesbian,” or “out queer person.” You can also describe the person as being out.
Just be sure to avoid saying or using the word “homosexual” at any point. 6) Don’t say:” gay agenda” or can agenda”. Yes, Sir refers to a male. Whether or not he is gay or straight is irrelevant. For example, it can be paired with a polite expression and perhaps a statement that identifies a person by a possession or article of clothing but, importantly, NOT a comment about their body or physical appearance.
Kobold Posted February 28, If I could pull off sounding more Scottish - I'd call out for "hen" which is colloquially used usually to refer to calls If you get what I mean, lol. However, while addressing a stranger as a friend may be intended as welcoming and inclusive, it can come off as overly familiar, insincere, or even condescending.
Homo Sapians? And in fact a polite expression is often the most important part, both functionally and in terms of politeness. I would hope that if they felt differently, they would tell you. At the core of everything we build is our Educate. The word friend can be a warm and guy way of addressing a person, especially if you have the kind of personality that can pull it off, as in Hello there, friend—can you tell me how to get to the highway from here?
KairilApr 29, Likewise with the lesbians being called ma'am. My only caveat is that it might cause problems if you're one of the many people who has yyou issues and would prefer not to be associated with the other people who share your last name, which is unfortunately far from uncommon among trans and cis people. Still, some people may feel that using a first name is too familiar or gay respectful enough, and referring to a person by their last name only without a title before it is usually reserved for close friends.
And a smile always helps. Busrider, you may have noticed that none of these posts answer your question. Non-binary people are usually severely uncomfortable about mentioning it, because coming out and explaining gender to every stranger you ever talk to is overwhelmingly bothersome and potentially dangerous. Posted February 29, I don't know how that'd go down. I literally cannot think of an instance where including the word "sir" or "ma'am" has ever been necessary.
Get the fascinating stories of your favorite words in your inbox. Posted February 28, Or if your last name is just really sucky and awkward. ConcernedcitizenApr 29, Ilyusha likes this. English is a little limiting that way.
I've been called Ma'am a few times before even though I'm clearly a guy, it doesn't really bother me that much. Yeah there's not really a gender neutral term. Scroll to Top. No jargon.
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