Sometimes back, someone here suggested me to write an explanatory blog about Sir and Mr, and I promised that I would do.
Blog is a little bit informative.
Courtesy and manners is a very essential thing, especially when we interact with other people. So words like hello, thank you, excuse me, please ... etc, etc, are the unwritten alphabet of showing good manners.
Yet, there is also another aspect, it can be by addressing another person by their name or when we are interacting with a person who is elder than us that we title them - Like uncle, auntie, Sir, Mr... etc, etc.
In some cultures, we don't address persons whom are elder than us by their names. It is an act of showing respect. Like, I could never dream of addressing my parents by their names.
Now, going back to the title of blog, what is then the story of Sir and Mr?
Sometimes we unintentionally mix up some terms and titles, so did I... but I stopped after I came to know their right context. Explanations follows, please be patient.
Sir, who is he;
A title of respect for some notable personage of ancient times. Written with initial capital letter like - Sir Maximilian of Troy.
A title often used as the distinctive title of a knight or baronet. Written with initial capital letter like - Sir Nicolai Scott.
A respectful or formal term of address used to a man. Written with small letter if written in the middle of a sentence like - sir. If you want to address a person this way, the correct way is just to use sir, not followed by the particular persons name.
And ...,
Mr, who is he;
A title of respect prefixed to a man's name or position.
Mr, is more commonly used in daily language usage. Therefore if you want to respectfully address another person, this is the more preferable and correct term to use.
Now, to sum it all up, you can call someone "Sir" or "Mr Maximilian", but not Sir Maximilian - unless they have a knighthood from the Queen of England.
I hope this was useful and you learned a little bit about using those two terms in their right and proper context.
"If you don't care to respect yourself.
You can never have any courtesy for anybody else.
For courtesy and good manners are a matter of heart.
Some people just ain't got.
But in the spirit of just common courtesy,
little things mean a lot."
Thank you for reading.
**Note: Dictionary.com - Help was taken from there to write this post.
Comments
You are welcome, thank you very much for taking time reading, I really appreciate it :)
A very good Explanation Eva. It is helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Oooh, please try and read my first reply to you, when you get time ... if still having troubles understanding, then say and I'll try to explain.
But I am wondering, what is it exactly you don't understand?
:)
Thank you, Evangelina! I still don't understand it, but it will try to do that later:)
Thank you so much for reading and liking blog :)
Now, how does that sounds?
Yes, I do agree with you what you expressed, every culture has their uniqueness and unique ways, as may not be found in others. I really like that aspect of courtesy and politeness.
I learned something from your comment, Icha - Thank you for sharing how to address others in your culture, I find it very interesting.
Blog is informative, as I wrote above it was a promise to a person as I fulfilled, I was hoping this person would notice ... but probably don't even remember.
You are welcome. Thank you for sharing your knowledge as well and thank you for taking time reading. Always my pleasure, Icha :)
Hmmm, what can I do to sort the confusion out here ... sometimes simplicity often gets complicated :)
As I wrote in my previous reply to you, about addressing women, the one you have to be attentive about is;
Ma'am - accidentally I also used this, but this is only used as a title of respect, especially when addressing female royalty - So this one, you should avoid using.
Instead, if you respectfully want to address, then these are more correct;
Mrs,
Miss,
Ms,
I have written the explanations in my previous reply to you, please look there. But I would say, I don't think these are so often used, it gets very formal somehow.
I hope this helped. You are welcome. Thank you again :)
How can I even counter argue that - LoL, yes, very informative :)
Thank you so much for taking time reading, I appreciate it.
Hi Evangelina,
It is very informative blog, indeed. In every country has its own way to give respect to other people. In my country to call people who are elder than us using mas (brother) and mbak (sister), though what I mentioned is from my province language but can be used generally. And, we should add 'pak (elder man) and ibu (elder woman) or to address the respectable people' before their name. It s kind of politeness. I believe this shirt of behaviour is influenced by a culture of a country.
Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us.
Thank you, Evangelina! But i am confused with these Miss, Mrs, Ms, missy and how and where to use them in the sentences... It is more difficult than with Sir and Mr...
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