I was raised to address strangers and those I wish to show social deference to as “Sir” or “Ma’am”. It’s a difficult habit to break, as it is deeply engrained.
What is an equivalent gender neutral honorific that is relatively common in English? If I can’t break the habit I’d rather have a substitute word to use instead of an awkward pause in the middle of addressing someone
I’d just use Google to ask but I’d rather ask the people directly rather than an AI generated answer based off of Reddit threads
ETA: I suppose if Yessir and Yes’m work, Yesn’t could too? Mostly joking… but maybe… 🤔
Mostly southern but definitely prisons as well. Predominant in chain gang type situations. An example more people might be familiar with would be Morgan Freeman’s line “bathroom break, boss?” in Shawshank Redemption when he’s been paroled and working at the grocery store. Yes, it’s from a movie but it’s also a reverence more likely to resonate. Shawshank takes place in the Northeast, hence prison…uh, “culture”.
Yeah, I’ve heard “boss” used in prison movies and such, but I’ve also heard it in places of employment (even when the person isn’t the supervisor or boss), between customer and service worker (both directions), with strangers (“Watch your step there, boss, there’s a sudden drop”). Never saw anyone offended by it in my own experience, so it’s news to me (and good to know) that there could be groups out there that are offended by it.
I only mentiomed it as a precautionary thing. I use boss all the time and can hardly recall receiving negative reactions, but it might be received poorly in other places. One of many downsides to living in a redneck state is that some intolerable shit is normalized.