Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:03 PM
 
10,449 posts, read 12,415,318 times
Reputation: 12590

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale View Post
But why is calling someone "ma'am" considered polite? I think it sounds silly. And a lot of people don't like being called 'sir' or 'ma'am' because it makes them feel old.

When someone calls me 'sir', I usually ask them to call me by my first name.
the thing i don't like about sir and ma'am is they're so vague. when people call out "sir" or "ma'am", how do you know which man or woman is the intended addressee?

anyway having lived in the north and the south, i've noticed this is a cultural thing. it's considered essential manners in the south and is completely unexpected in the north.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:06 PM
 
4,367 posts, read 3,470,459 times
Reputation: 1431
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale View Post
In other words, New York is more open-minded and accepting of people who are different.
Are you?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:08 PM
 
10,449 posts, read 12,415,318 times
Reputation: 12590
Quote:
Originally Posted by southbel View Post
I was told, as a female, that using profanity was a sign of poor breeding.
my parents taught me the f bomb when i was three. (and they only adopted me at three, so it couldn't have been any sooner, lol.) just goes to show you how culturally diverse the u.s. is.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:16 PM
 
Location: Meggett, SC
11,011 posts, read 10,965,566 times
Reputation: 6189
Quote:
Originally Posted by nimchimpsky View Post
my parents taught me the f bomb when i was three. (and they only adopted me at three, so it couldn't have been any sooner, lol.) just goes to show you how culturally diverse the u.s. is.
Yes, that's quite true. That would be unheard of in these parts.

I did actually spend some time up north. I went to boarding school up there. I can recall my very first day there and I said ma'am to my teacher. I was scolded as she thought I was being rude. A bit of cultural shock right out of the gates.

I have lived in several parts of the country and when I became an adult and wanted to start my family, it seemed natural for me to go back "home" to the South. Even though I moved away for a bit, I am always considered a Southerner by most people. Mayhap it's because I never did lose my South Georgia accent.

With respect to the OP, I know very few people that have been able to be considered a Southerner even though they were not born in the South or had Southern parents. I have known a few that moved away from the South and became "yankee". So, I guess the answer is that if you're born and raised in the South and your family believes in and practices Southern culture, people would be inclined to consider you Southern.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:19 PM
 
26,680 posts, read 28,571,363 times
Reputation: 7943
Quote:
Originally Posted by lizjo View Post
Just when I thought we were going to have one nice thread about southerners, here you go with that bigoted opinion of the south. Where do you live?
It's not bigoted at all. I'm just acknowledging and agreeing with what the Southerners are saying: You can't just move to the South and consider yourself to be a Southerner. On the other hand, you can move to New York and consider yourself to be a New Yorker.

Southerners are more protective of their culture than non-Southerners. There's pros and cons to that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:25 PM
 
5,365 posts, read 6,301,858 times
Reputation: 3360
Technically, anyone who lives in she south is a southerner. Why would a person from the northern states not be able to call themselves a southerner if they moved there?

My family is from Kentucky and has been based there for two centuries. I have lived in Florida most of my life and I will soon be moving to Texas. I am a southerner I suppose, but I don't find myself to be much different than people living out west or in the northern states.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:28 PM
 
3,201 posts, read 3,842,982 times
Reputation: 1047
Kentucky fought on the Yankee side in the war between the states. You are a Yankee.

Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneTraveler View Post
Technically, anyone who lives in she south is a southerner. Why would a person from the northern states not be able to call themselves a southerner if they moved there?

My family is from Kentucky and has been based there for two centuries. I have lived in Florida most of my life and I will soon be moving to Texas. I am a southerner I suppose, but I don't find myself to be much different than people living out west or in the northern states.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:30 PM
 
10,449 posts, read 12,415,318 times
Reputation: 12590
Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneTraveler View Post
Technically, anyone who lives in she south is a southerner. Why would a person from the northern states not be able to call themselves a southerner if they moved there?

My family is from Kentucky and has been based there for two centuries. I have lived in Florida most of my life and I will soon be moving to Texas. I am a southerner I suppose, but I don't find myself to be much different than people living out west or in the northern states.
when i moved to the south, i did not feel like a southerner. i felt like a fish out of water. much like if i moved to nigeria, i'd probably feel like an american living in nigeria, and probably wouldn't feel comfortable calling myself nigerian just because i lived there. the only scenario where i might is if i completely fell in love with the culture and felt more at home in nigeria than the u.s., at which point i would probably call myself 'nigerian at heart' or something to that effect--but that's still more the exception than the rule.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:33 PM
 
5,365 posts, read 6,301,858 times
Reputation: 3360
Quote:
Originally Posted by joebaldknobber View Post
Kentucky fought on the Yankee side in the war between the states. You are a Yankee.
That is true. I actually have one of my ancestor's civil war records that showed he fought for The Union.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2012, 10:37 PM
 
5,365 posts, read 6,301,858 times
Reputation: 3360
Quote:
Originally Posted by nimchimpsky View Post
when i moved to the south, i did not feel like a southerner. i felt like a fish out of water. much like if i moved to nigeria, i'd probably feel like an american living in nigeria, and probably wouldn't feel comfortable calling myself nigerian just because i lived there. the only scenario where i might is if i completely fell in love with the culture and felt more at home in nigeria than the u.s., at which point i would probably call myself 'nigerian at heart' or something to that effect--but that's still more the exception than the rule.
To be honest, when I visit my family in the small towns of Kentucky I feel like a fish out of water myself. lol.

I don't feel like a fish out of water when I visit my family is Louisville or Atlanta though. These days the rural south is so much different than the urban south. And then there is Florida of course, where I am from. Most people don't consider Florida to be southern, but when I go to the small towns in The Heartland or the panhandle I get the same feelings I get in the small towns of Kentucky. I think of Florida as what the rest of the south is changing into.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top