[razia210]

How many woman here hate it when a stranger calls them ma'am personally I hate
This word.I am 40 years old but when someone says ma'am it just sounds like it is for someone much older.I would prefer to br called madam instead.what about the rest of you?

[GlindaofOz]

The only place I like it is when I go to the southern part of the US. It sounds so lovely with that beautiful southern drawl.

I suppose there are worse things people could say they could just shout out HEY YOU! Or say what do you want lady?

[CorrieNB]

Im only 25 but I kind of understand I work at a Real Estate office and a gentelman came in the other day and kept calling me ma'am it was kind of annoying. I have a (I don't know if you would say bad or good) habbit of calling people ma'am and sir But that was just the way I was raised. I think most people do it out of respect not because they think you are old.

[rankrank55]

I live in Tennessee and hear this word used A LOT. I'm 21 and I have people call me ma'am all of the time. It's a culturally regional aspect of the good ole south. In school, we were always taught that out of respect you say "yes ma'am, no sir." I think it's wonderful.

[RubyPitbull]

LOL. I still remember the first time I was called ma'am. I was 21 and the clerk at the convenience store must have been close to 30. I was livid. Thankfully, as I have gotten older I have chilled. I actually prefer it now. It is a respectful way for someone to address me. I find it more annoying when I am in a restaurant and the waiter who is a teen or college student says: "How are you guys doing?" There is no mistaking me for a man. I am old enough to be his mother's "older yet devastingly more attractive" sister. LOL. All joking aside, it annoys me when someone lumps everyone at the table together and calls us all "guys." I think that shows a major lack of good manners, and the usage of the term "ma'am" shows proper manners.

[froggy7]

How many woman here hate it when a stranger calls them ma'am personally I hate
this word.I am 40 years old but when someone says ma'am it just sounds like it is for someone much older.I would prefer to br called madam instead.what about the rest of you?

Between the two, I much prefer ma'am. Madam makes it sound like you should be running a brothel.

Realistically, the options are few. Miss, which will get married women and women of a certain age upset. Miz (Ms), which gets the traditionalists upset. Mrs. which gets unmarried women upset (especially if the assumption is then made that a man in the party is her husband!) Ma'am, which some people object to because it sounds old-fashioned or makes them feel old.

But any of those are better than "hey you".

[Homegirl 50]

Doesn't bother me one bit. It's nice to know there are still folks out there with manners.

[Fr_Chuck]

Don't come down south then, I was taught to do so in respect, and all of my kids and their friends do.

It is always yes ma'am and no ma'am.

And it is a lot better than "ho" which is used on the street for a lot of women now adays

[kp2171]

Would you prefer "sugar" or "honey"?

I agree with those who say it's a term of respect, and not reserved for the "old" crowd.

[lacuran8626]

If the words offend you, ignore them and instead accept the good intentions behind them.

Nobody intends to point out how old you are, and unless you are a teenager, a lot of people will use "Ma'am", particularly if you are married and wear a ring, as "Miss" implies you are unmarried. It's unfortunate there is not a female equivalent of "Sir", which does not connote marital status or make people feel they are viewed at any particular age, but that's just how it is.

People calling you "Ma'am", unless the rest of the statement is rude, are intending to be respectful to you. Accept the fact that someone just extended their respect to you and ignore the word - it will be more pleasant to experience it that way, and you can't change the behavior of strangers you've yet to meet anyway.

[stonewilder]

The only place I like it is when I go to the southern part of the US. It sounds so lovely with that beautiful southern drawl.

Thank you ma'am...

[Wondergirl]

Ma'am is a friendly form of Madam. (The apostrophe replaces the "d".) Madam is how one addresses the Queen. Madam sounds horrid and old.

[stonewilder]

When I was in my early 20's I liked it and didn't understand why some women would tell me how it made them feel old when I'd call them ma'am. Now that I'm older (not that old) I don't like it much, although I appreciate that their parents taught them some manners. I think someone calling me madam would make me feel like I'm an old maid of royal blood... I don't really like that either.

[letmetellu]

In my part of Texas it is always yes Ma'am or no ma'am or yes sir or no sir. It is a sign of respect but with a tone of voice it can always mean something else besides respect. But everyone that deserves it is called Ma'am.

[kp2171]

I picked this up from my grandfather, and he got it from the military. He'd say "yes, sir" or "no, ma'am" to the person doing the lowliest job. It was simply a respectful term that was a "reflex" for him... he'd have to mentally force himself not to say it.

I worked with a guy who hated that I used "sir" and a friend of my fathers hated it too... made him feel "old"...

[startover22]

I like it and I receive it in respect and give it in respect! It is better than some names we could be called... LOL

[LOSTnNC]

Well as a Southerner myself Born and bred Here in North Carolina I was raised to say yes mam no sir it was a staple and a habit and just the way I was raised I was taught to say it and yea I get ones that make comments to me say like I work for a living no need to say sir or some will say I'm not old yet I mean the majority of people who say it aren't mean about it its just out of the way I was raised southern people have that mentality I know I don't mean anything bad by it but to each their own can't please everyone all the time lol

[Emland]

I was born and raised in Arkansas and the use of ma'am was not an option. The general rule of thumb is anyone more than 10 years older gets the "ma'am."

What makes me feel old (I'm 40 also) is the young people in my workplace that call me "Miss Em." Like I'm Miss Daisy in need of a driver. I realize it is a sign of respect, and ask them to drop the Miss, but it makes some uncomfortable, so I have stopped asking.

You can call me Ms. or Mrs. or Ma'am, just don't call me late to supper!

[startover22]

Miss Em, you are beautiful... that is better... now go get dinner

[Kay27]

I too hate being called Ma'am, and have to agree with one of my female clients in her belief that, "it should be a curse word". Or, as I've seen else where, "Ma'am isn't just a four letter word..it's a four letter word with an apostrophe in the middle."

First off, to correct the response above, every etiquette book asserts that "Ma'am" IS the female equivalent of "Sir". Where you are mixed up is that there is no MALE equivalent of MISS.

The confusion here, is that all our lives women are addressed as "Miss". "How can I help you, Miss?" "Can I get that for you, Miss". Then women pass an Invisible Barrier, and MARRIED OR NOT, people everywhere start calling us Ma'am. We notice it, and wonder why.

People UNCONSCIOUSLY call "older" women Ma'am and "younger" women Miss. It happens all the time. I can tell you of plenty of times I've gone to the store, and a woman not more than 10 years younger than I, also "unmarried", gets addressed as Miss, while the same clerk addresses me as Ma'am. That hurts. I have also purposely taken notice, that if I fix my hair nicely, and wear makeup, and dress more sexily - I am usually NOT called Ma'am when I go shopping! You should try it!

The solution, I suggest, is what many clerks do - just be pleasant, and polite and attentive and say, "Can I get that for you?", or "Excuse me, I can help you over here,", or "How was your dinner tonight?" Did anyone see anything wrong with any of those? I don't. But, when I get a "Can I get that for you, Ma'am" or "I can help you over here, Ma'am" etc , I just want to scream. It's just not necessary to add the Ma'am or even the Miss. I don't think any stranger has the right to make assumptions about my age or marital status.

Society is too complicated these days to assume WHO everyone is, how old they are, what address makes them comfortable, or whether they want to be addressed at all. We can leave the 'titles' and 'addresses' for the people we know, and leave them off for strangers.