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When you are in a work place you are told to say things a certien way. Saying things like yes mam or sir to parents is considered proper. However people will get insulted over this but that is how you are suppose to talk. So how are you wrong?
I deal with alot of older clientele in my line of work and I am accustomed to addressing them as "Sir" or "Madam" now.
I'm even finding myself picking up the greeting "How do you do?" and using it in everyday speech outside work. Many of them are from an era were "one must speak the Queen's English with dignity" and I'm often having to adopt RP (Received Pronunciation) when speaking to them.
Thank you for teaching me a new phrase! I'm an American, and I had never before heard the phrase Received Pronunciation.
"How do you do?" is a charming and gracious phrase; I regret that people in Texas bastardized it to "Howdy!" The standard equivalent here, at least with initiating business conversations, is, "How may I help you?" which I find a little servile.
I always talk based on the context. Use the language others around you use.
I used to work at a reception desk and took a lot of phone calls. You do not know fury until you say "yes, ma'am" to a soft-voiced man or "yes, sir" to a deep-voiced woman. It's dangerous, I tell you! For that reason, it's often best to leave off gender-specific terms when taking a phone call unless you're really *really* sure you're using the right one.
If someone gets huffy at you over saying "ma'am" and "sir," let it roll off your back. You're being polite; the person you're addressing isn't. Keep doing what you're doing, and rest assured that it'll make 98 percent of the people you help happy.
Oh, and if you want to make someone downright delighted, call a woman in her 30s or 40s "miss" instead of "ma'am."
Haha yeah I work customer service and I am very old fashioned, so I commonly call people (especially those older than me) Ma'am or Sir. I mean it out of respect, but I encounter alot of people that are uncomfortable with the title of Ma'am and Sir cos it makes them feel old. I can actually understand that.
I have been lucky enough in my life to fly business class overseas and it was a weird experience for me when the flight attendants addressed me as "sir." I'm such a laid back easy going lazy bloke it just feels like the wrong title. I suppose its part of the pampering but I certainly wouldn't of flinched at all at "dude."
So in conclusion, I suppose in formal situations its all well and proper.