foxdna OP t1_itim6ri wrote
Reply to comment by kalysti in The way people speak in The Count of Monte Cristo. Can someone explain? by foxdna
Ohhh that makes sense. And it wasn’t just a European thing?
Do you love the book?
kalysti t1_itisbox wrote
I do love the book. And it was true in the United States. Even when I was a girl, back in the 60s, I was expected to address adults as sir or ma'am. And I only used their first names if they gave me permission.
TheMadIrishman327 t1_itj02yz wrote
That’s how I was raised in the 70’s and 80’s.
Rabidleopard t1_itjiv0a wrote
My parents tried it in the 90s but all the adults found it weird
IHadToPickOne2 t1_itkds9u wrote
We would only use their first name with a title before it, such as "Miss Alice".
kalysti t1_itkdw21 wrote
Yep, and all of my adult relatives got the appropriate title. Aunt Ann, Uncle Andy. To this day, many of my own niblings call me Aunt kalysti.
Kataphractoi t1_itjqts7 wrote
It's still a thing today in America. Less so since we're much more informal as a culture now, but if you go to an older/more conservative company, you'll see this at play. Also in the military it's pretty common for senior ranks to refer to junior ranks by first name and only use rank/last name in formal scenarios or if someone's getting an ass-chewing.
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