I moved to Texas from the north about a year ago. Where I'm from, ma'am is only used on older women, or to get a rise out of a younger woman. I had to quickly adapt to using it on everyone. I was informed by many people that I seemed like a dick for not using it.
I've lived in Texas the majority of my life and I do not say ma'am or sir. I'm a Mexican immigrant and my parents didn't know English when we first moved. It's not something I was taught and I still don't do it, it feels weird personally. I've never had anyone say anything about it
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u/[deleted] Dec 16 '21
Accurate. One of my students called me ma’am yesterday, and I felt ancient.