1/29/2010 8:49:29 AM

1/29/2010 8:50:52 AM

welcome to the South, bitch.

1/29/2010 8:51:04 AM

I've lived in the south longer than you have

1/29/2010 8:51:57 AM

by, what, a year due to being older than me?

this is the thread for:

1/29/2010 8:54:54 AM

I don't get it

1/29/2010 8:55:21 AM

i at you ing

1/29/2010 8:56:53 AM

^you would.

1/29/2010 8:57:45 AM

Why roll your eyes at saying Ms. Sarah?

1/29/2010 9:07:37 AM

Because there is no reason to add a "mr" or "ms" to someone's first name. if it is a level of respect, a mr. or ms. should be added to the last name.

1/29/2010 9:10:23 AM

i, too, roll my eyes when I hear anyone other than a 70+ year old black Southern woman saying this

and it must be followed with a few fragmented sentences containing the word sugah

1/29/2010 9:11:31 AM

I think it's perfectly acceptable...especially around children...I get called Ms. Sarah all the time around children.

When your in less formal situations and you're technically on an equal level but someone is older than you and you just wanna be respectful I think it's perfectly acceptable too.

1/29/2010 9:12:31 AM

^no

1/29/2010 9:14:15 AM

dear smath,

you are wrong.

love,

william faulkner
harper lee
and
tennessee williams

1/29/2010 9:15:48 AM

Pretty much every person who does any sort of pre-school work with children are called Mr. or Ms. and then their first name...that's how it works.

1/29/2010 9:16:03 AM

you mean dear mr. smath

1/29/2010 9:16:15 AM

i change my assessment then -- only 70+ y.o. black Southern women who also say sugah a lot and also preschool-aged Southern children

1/29/2010 9:18:43 AM

I say this

and I don't see a problem with it

I've actually been told it's too formal

1/29/2010 9:34:31 AM

i was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
and man did he look pretty ill

1/29/2010 10:16:31 AM

Better believe they call me Mr. Slave around here

1/29/2010 10:20:21 AM

I work at summer camps in the summer and I've gone by "Mr. Justin" and I just find it silly.

1/29/2010 10:20:57 AM

i, too, think this is totally acceptable in informal situations.
i was raised this way.

i think it's one of the aspects of southern hospitality
and the charm.


that and also i call some of my mom's friends "aunt so-in-so" even though they aren't really my aunt.


my dad on the other hand is from michigan....i don't do that with anyone up there.

1/29/2010 10:21:55 AM

My daughter calls all family and close friends aunt or uncle [first name]. All other adults are Mr. or Ms. [first name]

For little kids, it's simply because in most cases first names are easier to say.

1/29/2010 10:37:42 AM

My sister calls her mother-in-law "Ms. Janie" and her husband calls my parents "Mr. Gregg" and "Ms. Tami." I think it's odd, and I don't do that with my in-laws, but it's how they show their respect I guess.

1/29/2010 10:41:23 AM

I call my mother-in-law Mom, and my father-in-law pop. I call my wife's step-parents by their first names though.

1/29/2010 10:42:31 AM

Quote :

"Because there is no reason to add a "mr" or "ms" to someone's first name. if it is a level of respect, a mr. or ms. should be added to the last name."

If language were dictated purely by reason, it would be no fun at all.


Sorry, but you can't always get what you want.

1/29/2010 11:12:02 AM

Quote :

"Because there is no reason to add a "mr" or "ms" to someone's first name. if it is a level of respect, a mr. or ms. should be added to the last name."

While I kind of agree with you, where does that rule come from in the first place? It is just a convention, and mind you, not in the whole world.

In Asian and Arab countries, they refer to you by your first name with Mr./Ms. I don't know how it is in South America and Africa.

But really, it is just a convention made up by white people/Western culture.

1/29/2010 11:17:06 AM