Sigh

Comments

11 responses to “Sigh”

1. 

   Madelyn Clare

   September 10, 2010

   When I was moved here in 1967, from a private Quaker school in Philadelphia, I came home from my first day of school asking my Mom, “what’s a may-um?” . She was baffled too, and asked me where I’d heard that. I told her, everyone calls our teachers that, yes may-um, no may-um. When my Father came home, he too was baffled, but after consulting w/our neighbor, (a native) who roared w/laughter, we learned that it was “ma’m”, a contraction of madame.
   My Mom told me NEVER to call her that, that where we came from, it was a term used towards strangers, i.e., waitresses, maids, other people whose name we we didn’t know but needed to interact w/for some reason.
   When in Rome, I reckon…

2. 

   JMPrince

   September 8, 2010

   http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/03/exclusive-the-joker-takes-over-mad-magazine/

3. 

   Your Mom Loves Me

   September 8, 2010

   http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv198/probenexus/double-facepalm.jpg

4. 

   JMPrince

   September 8, 2010

   There’s always the possibility that you don’t really understand the argument, or much else Ed. Color me as someone who was thinking that their late ‘language maven’ & Nixon bag man Safire might have done a better job here too. And BTW, mom too, never suffered fools gladly. So just for you too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EVvC1Re2Fc

   Besos. JMP

5. 

   Sara

   September 8, 2010

   I hate being called ma’am. Not enough that I would complain about it to the NYT, but it does irk me. And yes, I understand that most who do it are trying to be respectful.

6. 

   Jen B.

   September 8, 2010

   Heh. Sometimes I use “ma’am” or “sir” when I want to show disrespect in a way that won’t get me into trouble. But, maybe that’s just me.. of course, I also wasn’t raised in the South.

7. 

   BEZERKO

   September 8, 2010

   I was trained to say yes sir and yes ma’am by my parents. My mom also taught me to always say Ms. (fill in the blank). Sir and Ma’am have always been equal signs of respect though I never thought about it that much. I try, since I’m 51, to say just “yes” or “no” without sir or ma’am now.

8. 

   Jason

   September 8, 2010

   So maybe they prefer, “Hey, you!”… or “Yo, Bitch!”? 🙂

9. 

   Your Mom Loves Me

   September 8, 2010

   JMP: http://bit.ly/q7TCW

10. 

    JMPrince

    September 8, 2010

    Idiocy from the NYT. SSDD. Tannen really ought to know better, but as they say, Linguistics is not for the faint hearted, and there’s really little ‘generalist’ work still being done or prominently published much in the field too. But nothing beats lived experiences too. Other than Yankees there’s a huge swath of territory that just does not end at the ‘Mid-West’ where ma’am is reasonably common (it’s an older sort of ‘hold over’ for sure), and where it really would not commonly connote any sort of disrespect. For the young folks who might favor it, it’s typically marking someone as an ‘older adult’ or someone of their parents generation who is due & accorded the same level of respect. Because they were brought up that way. And yes, you can even encounter this a few miles distant from NYC. Any day of the week usually, in most cardinal directions too. Try any military base’s family housing for one example. JMP

11. 

    Drew

    September 8, 2010

    What disdain? The author of the article asked a linguist, and the linguist said that usage of ma’am varies by region and attitude. The fact that some use the term with sincere respect does not change the fact that more use the term with annoyance. And regardless of intent, if “ma’am” is more often than not interpreted as an insult, it would be wise not to use it.

    Me, I learned a long time ago that even in “flyover country,” anyone over the age of 18 who refers to a woman as “ma’am” is in dangerous territory.