"Miss" being the equivalent of "Sir"

[heidihole]

I was reading this article today about the ball boys and girls of Wimbledon.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346256/Never-mind-Andy-Murray--ball-girls-boys-REALLY-hell-star-Wimbledon.html?ico=home^editors_choice

I was sad to see that they are all professionally and formally trained to say (for example holding open a door) "after you, Sir" or "after you, Miss"

AIBU to think that the equivalent of Sir is not Miss! It should be Madam or M'am.

quotes from the article:

From the minute they step in here, they?re under no illusions as to what is acceptable, down to tying shoelaces with two knots, addressing us all as ?Miss? or ?Sir? and opening doors,? she says.

Goldson trains her ball boys and girls not to chat with the players. If spoken to or asked about a line call, they are instructed to say: ?I don?t know, Sir/Miss? ? even if they do.

Their backs are straight, their hair is gleaming, their shirts are tucked in, they look you in the eye, smile sweetly and hold doors open with an ?After you, Miss?.

If I was asked the equivalent of Miss I would say Mr. As in, "Excuse me, Mr, have you got the time please? Excuse me, Miss have you got the time please"

A small thing but irritating me none the less.

I think it probable comes from how teacher are addressed and Miss is easier to say than Mrs, it flows. Also Ma'am is American and being a Madam isn't a compliment.

Ma'am isn't American! Its the correct way to address the Queen for a start. It comes from the French

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam

I wouldn't like to be called Miss if my DH was being called Sir.

YANBU, and this makes me cross when schools do it, too.

I just think its part of the culture of the tournament. It's like dance. All dance teachers whether married or single are known as Miss first name

They may be.... but should they be pictures? :)

I don't know. My background is drama so I find it a bit strange. But dancers all insist on it so one assumes they like it.

I wouldn't address the Queen as ma'am, she that rich parasite in expensive hats.

Some male Judges are addressed as Sir, the female equivalent is Madam.

Agree, that's wrong. I assume that women teachers are traditionally called 'Miss' from the old days when married women rarely worked (or weren't allowed to!) so all teachers were Miss X - but in this day and age it's hardly a model to follow.

I notice that in British crime dramas and fiction, women superiors are often addressed as "ma'am," so it appears to be used in that context.

The use of "ma'am" is not just American obviously, but it is the standard equivalent to "sir" in the US.

Some schools use "Madam". I get the argument in theory, but in practice, for the children using the terms, I think they are equivalent.

I hate that children in schools use Miss as the equivalent of Sir. It is Maam!

I really don't like the whole sir or miss thing. When I was at school we just addressed all teachers as Mr/Mrs/Miss/Dr/whatever other title they used Surname at all times. We'd never have used sir or miss. It sounds really weird to me when DS1 talks about his teachers as sir or miss.

But I agree miss should not be the equivalent of sir.

I taught at a school where they called us Ma'am, and the men, Sir. I thought the pupils were taking the mick when I first started. It was very normal locally. I was a state school, not private.

Side note - DM continues to call Nigella Lawson "miss Lawson" throughout the recent events in her life.

She's obviously married and has obviously kept her own name. All the newspapers manage to call her Ms except the DM.

I agree. As a teacher I think that being called Miss while male teachers are called Sir does subliminally affect pupils' view of our relative status. I would prefer Ma'am.

I'm married, and I'm still Miss Hole

Miss or Ms is a personal preference and I don't know that Nigella has ever publically declared which title she uses.

Juliet Bravo was always Ma'am (well.. Mum, which confused me for a long time when I was younger).

At my Girls school we were taught to use the teachers names (Mrs X or whatever), as yelling out 'MISSSSS' didn't have the right tone.

Personally I hate Miss too - it has overtures of unmarried spinster governesses trying to get by as opposed to Ma'am which actually has some respect in it. I could be overthinking that though.

Agree not "Miss" but rofl at Ma'am! I just don't think there is a female equivalent to Sir, so Miss/Mrs/Ms Surname should be used.

Miss sounds young. It's very important for women to be young.
Sir sounds older and authoritative. Which is most suitable for men.

I really don't understand what's wrong with Mrs Brown, Mr Smith and Miss Jones (all of whom have chosen those titles). Do schools fear that children won't be able to remember their teacher's names?

Or teachers' names for that matter.

yesterday the manager of a giraffe addressed me as miss all the way through my lunch. it's the first time I've had it and it was very strange. now i've come across your thread. Personally I didn't like it but he meant it to be some sort of compliment. I don't think I'd like madam either, I think it makes the person saying it sound like they are less than the person they say it to (miss made me feel like i was his teacher). There isnt' really a good word at all. We used ma'am at my secondary school, it seemed really normal at the time but when people from other schools heard it they were bemused. I wondered why a state school had ma'am and thought they had ideas but I like the idea that it was a stab at feminism.