Sir, Madam

In this sketch, the sales representative, though doing the right thing, was verbally chastised for so doing, which is somewhat distressing, as we rarely are afforded examples of persons within the service industry greeting potential customers in the way in which they should be greeted. This is in fact, what is to be expected and applauded.

Advertisement aside, the other issues are the use/nonuse of these tags, including ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’, and ‘Ma’am’, and their usefulness in today’s communication sphere. To know why we use a word today, it’s good to know how it originated. There are many lengthy online articles on the history of these words. However, for the sake of this article, we’ll go with the most commonly agreed upon usage.

Sir first appeared as sire in the 1200s. During and after this period, this has been a form of address for the Royals in Britain. Then as the centuries passed, sire lost the ‘e’ and sir came to be used as a title of respect for all men. As a result, if you entered an establishment and stated, “Excuse me there, may I have some assistance?” the ‘there’ would be replaced by ‘Sir’ to add a measure of respect for the person with whom you are interacting.

Ma’am is a narrowing -of-sorts of madam (the ‘d’ is simply removed). It is an Anglo-French word first in use in the 1300s and was originally ma dame — the literal translation being my lady. This referred to any lady, married or single, just like sir referred to any man. Both words have been in standard use in their current forms since at least the 1700s. Today, they are still standard signs of respect, and honorific titles.

Madam (with the ‘d’ in place) still has some use in the US. Most commonly, this honorific is for high-ranking female government officials whom we should address as Madam, especially in conversation: Madam Secretary (female secretaries of state, treasury, education and such) and Madam Justice (female justices of the Supreme Court).

Sir and ma’am are not age-related. In the United States of America, once you are old enough to have the right to vote or serve in the military (age 18), you are old enough for others to refer to as sir or ma’am. Hence there are no age restrictions for the use of these honorific titles. You are not too young to be referred to as Sir or Ma’am.

As a matter of example, my young son is, as a standard, referred to as ‘Master Griffith’ on most International Airlines and on most of our European explorations. He relishes this acknowledgement as it bestows a title upon him, and I must add he usually lives up to this title, by mere fact of believing more is automatically expected of and from him.

The word origins of sir and ma’am show that, unlike some suggest, the words aren’t slang for anything derogatory. Today, society places great worth on the terms traditionally, commercially, and culturally as a sign of respect to all. For the same reason you and I should say them: the words are verbal signs of respect.

Sometimes we need to set ourselves apart, and simple acknowledgement may very well do the trick. I have also seen the use of the words ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ in less than perfect circumstances, by Police Officers in the conduct of their duties.

As challenging a circumstance, continuing to maintain an air of respect between the representation of the State [police officer] and a potential offender is a very important aspect of the communication cycle. The maintenance of the form of respectful communication between officers and offenders ensures a measure of respect of the rule of law. This is not something that we often see in many of our local jurisdictions, and perhaps should be considered whilst developing service based training modules.