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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kentucky fought on the Yankee side in the war between the states. You are a Yankee.
Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneTraveler
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.
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.
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.
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