#terms of address

[high-pot-in-noose]

Terms of Address Within English

Sir is from 'sire', from the Latin 'senior.' In Latin, 'senior' is both masc. and fem., and the neutral is 'senius.'

Following the logic of the root language, it wouldn't be wrong to call men and women sir. Also, if we were to transform 'senius' equivalently, we'd get 'sis,' which means sis is actually perfectly neu. and is a valid, respectful term of address.

Ma'am comes from 'madam,' from the Latin 'mea+domina.' The masc. would be 'meus+dominus,' and the neu. would be 'meum+dominum.'

Based on how 'mea+domina' was smooshed and chopped to eventually make 'ma'am', if we were to do the same for the masc. and neu., 'ma'am' would apply to them as well. Ma'am is thus for all genders.

But what I'm after here is a term of address that by default is intended for agendered and/or polygendered folks.

Both sir and ma'am refer to (among other things) a head of household — a person of authoritative standing.

'Hērēs' means 'inheritor of household' and is both masculine and feminine. If we were to dissemble it in the way we did 'senior' into 'sir,' we'd get hirs [homophone of 'hearse'].

Alternatively, we could follow the example of 'ma'am', and go with 'meus+hērēs.' Doing so, we'd end up with ma'er [homophone of 'mere'].

OR we could mess around with 'senius,' 'meum/-us/-am,' and 'dominum' some more.

'Meus+senius' could be chopped (phonetically) into ma'en [homophone of 'mean'], and 'dominum' would dissemble à la 'sir' into doum [homophone of 'doom'].

What I'm saying here is that women can be sirs, sis is respectful to anyone and is perfectly fit for the workplace, ma'am is for everyone who's not a little bitch, and we could be out here getting spicy as hirses, ma'ers, ma'ens, and doums with just a little extra thought.

[amariasolo]

Look, I know The Witcher is trying to be "the next Game of Thrones" and I respect that, but fake-Ciri just addressed Emhyr as "Your Grace" and I thought that was a dumb world-building choice when George R.R. Martin made it, let alone whoever snuck that into the Witcher script. Haven't they addressed sovereigns of the realm as "Your Majesty" before in this series? Am I going to have to go back and look that up? Is there some in-universe reason that Emhyr would be a "Grace" when every other monarch is a "Majesty"? Or is this exactly as dumb as I think it is

[yesnowhatno]

Lawful good: “Ladies, Gentlemen, and distinguished guests”

Chaotic good: “Bitches, bros, and non-binary hoes”

Lawful evil: “all you rock and rollers”

Chaotic evil: “everypony”

[cat-appreciator]

I’ve used “cats and kittens” before. I’m charmed by the critter-creature spectrum though!

people keep trying to make "ladies and gentlemen" more inclusive.

I think we should go the other way around.

make more and more weird false dichotomies in greetings. "gamers and pianists". "oil painters and swordsmen". "vexillologists and entomologists". "chess masters and diamond artificers". "accountants and gendered individuals".

we need to be dropping shit into formal meetings to make people say "wait what? which one am I?"

[kiragecko]

My other response to the post about not including dates in your speculative fiction is:

OR REAL TERMS OF ADDRESS! Unless you're willing to do a LOT of research, don't include royalty or nobility that people are going to casually talk to. And if you do, MAKE UP a title for them! You are going to get it wrong, otherwise. It is almost impossible for a modern person to wrap their mind around the nuances of (European) titles, and getting it right looks weird on the page. Your main character is NOT going to get offered to call the duke by his first name once they become friends. Nobody calls the duke by his first name. THAT ISN'T HOW IT WORKS!

Since this is not compatible with the addition I DID give, I have decided to vent here, instead.

Also. I guess. You can keep including (wrong) terms of address in your stories. I am not the police. I won't come into your notes and correct you. Have fun!

(I will just vibrate over here, ranting to myself, and leave you to have your fun.)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hello Madam. Sorry Madam.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[saywhat-politics]

It's worth noting that this is the first-ever presidential address to Congress by a convicted felon.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

12 minute YouTube video. President Biden warns of a Tech Bros Oligarchy, the erosion of democracy, a new gilded age, robber Barons having an office in the Capitol, and calls for SCOTUS term limits.

[koipalm]

liushennnn in my attendant sy au (read right to left)

notes on this au:

sy transmigrates into a new body when sqq fights the system trying to force him out of his body. sqq is livid and decides to take sy as his retainer/secretary/assistant, forcing him to do most of the accounting & administrative work on qing jing peak and work for sqq for free while also helping sqq avoid his tragic fate by telling him spoilers and secrets about the world that sy remembers. sy has no golden core and no cultivation, and cant wield a spiritual sword or fight. sy has no documents, no money, and no prospects. sqq basically provides everything for him & can also take it away. sy moves into the other room in the bamboo house and cleans and organizes as well, although his own room is a mess. sqq never makes it clear what sy's position on the peak is, so all of the disciples follow his orders in fear of disobeying sqq. sy is basically 2nd to sqq, although he doesnt see it that way; he sees himself as sqq's overworked servant. he resents sqq for his control over sy's life, but he's terrified of being kicked out.

sqq takes sy to the peak lord meetings as well, using sy to carry documents, serve tea, and to give him information about anything that might be useful to sqq if it comes up during the meeting. sy also often acts as a messenger for sqq between peaks. he doesnt get much interaction outside of senior disciples and the other peak lords.

since sy's hands are usually full with documents, accounting books, talisman paper, & anything else sqq wants him to carry, sy can't use his fan to hide his face as much. instead he uses his hair & his glasses. his skin is sallow & he often misses meals from running around doing sqq's errands, so he always seems tired. clothes he wears are simple & loose, either slip on or buttoned up. he dislikes loud & bright patterns bc he doesn't want to stand out, but sometimes has no choice bc sqq buys his clothes. sqq will often make him wear more extravagant patterns, even when it makes sy nervous about attracting attention.

since sy seemed to appear out of nowhere to the other sect members, sy is very worried about acting too suspicious and getting kicked out. he copies sqq as much as possible to acclimate to the world and seem unphased & elegant.

sy is very interested in the other peak lords since he interacts with them often, especially liu qingge. liu qingge often catches him staring, but sy tries not to interact with anyone more than he has to. liu qingge usually sees him hiding behind sqq as a buffer. if sy does speak, he does it low & quiet, & if behind his fan if possible.

sy looks like his old body & has long black hair, similarly styled to sqq by his insistence. sy dislikes this.

sqq calls sy "a-yuan" bc sy doesnt like it. sy doesnt like telling people his name though bc it makes ppl think theyre related, which he also doesnt like, so he doesnt stop sqq from indroducing sy as "a-yuan". this makes it very difficult for other ppl to know what to call sy in fear of being too familiar

sy does meet sqh earlier in this au, and he helps him as much as he can get away with behind sqq's back. since sy is less bound by the system than sqh is, sqh sometimes "sponsors" sy to do things he himself cant do.

sy calls sqq the equivalent of "sir".

[high-pot-in-noose]

hiii i have a question re: martial terms of address in xianxia/wuxia. the martial siblings of your teacher are referred to as shibo/shishu regardless of gender of the martial sibling or your teacher, but what about martial siblings of your biological parents? is it still just shibo/shishu, or would more specific terms like gu/tang/jiu/yi be used, ex. shijiu for your biological mother's martial brother or shitang for your biological father's younger martial sister? or is that not a thing and parents' martial siblings are called the same as teacher's martial siblings

You've brought up a really interesting question here. Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't seen a lot of representation for the martial sibling of one's parents in the stories I've read. I recall maybe 2-3 instances vaguely, but that's about it. Huh.

As far as I'm aware (based on what I remember seeing in translations), the martial siblings of one's parents are addressed one of two ways: 1) the same way one would address the friends of one's parents, or 2) the same way one would address their master's martial siblings. The difference depends on if you are also a member of the same school/sect.

Maybe your parent retired from duty before you were old enough to begin training as well, leading you both to be officially civilians; maybe life has just led to you not being a cultivator/martial artist. In those cases, it would be more appropriate to just address them as aunt or uncle in the same way you would for any elder not blood-related to you. But if you all are part of the same organization, then it's the other way.

Actually, a 3rd scenario just occurred to me: If you are training under a master who isn't your parent, then you would address your parent's martial siblings as aunt/uncle in private, but in public in the manner of how they'd relate to your master. If the relation is not as clean-cut as "master's martial elder/junior," then it would acceptable to just address them as "Sect Elder."

[liamdni]

make sure to cancel your subscription to kc's patreon. she has around 78 members as or now, meaning she is still making quite a pretty penny at ~$390 per month.

this isn't about fiction. this is about kc covering for *actual, real life, predators.*

[pansyfemme]

mmm but. i miss pansyfemme as a url already. but im lowkey really tired of people sending me asks questioning terminology i have explained dozens of times in the past so ive been. stepping away a bit from the term femme- not because i dont identify with it anymore. just that this blog’s gotten a bit of attention lately, and while a lot of the circles ive always run in tend to know the history of the term femme is not one exclusive to one gender or identity, people seeing my posts on my dash send me a lot of asks about it in heavily varying levels of politeness. and while i have explained it with sources and everything in the past,, i kind of. hate doing that all the time and despite having a faq people still. dont read it. so i kinda. uh. more so just. dont feel like justifying myself ten times a day and i also. dont like ignoring the asks so.. it will be definitly a term i will still use but kind of dont want in my username anymore. does that make any sense.

[gumbleboy]

Gorosei on the Snail Laptop (snaptop)

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Thinking about "So Long, London" as one does and the "I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free" which is devastating enough on its own as a succinct shorthand of saying "I gave you some of my most formative years thinking we were committed to the same life plans together" (as in building a family life together) but with ~everything~ can also be a statement of her entrusting him with her youthful hopes and dreams and joy and earnestness only for it all to be cast aside and not returned (and at worst, weaponized).

[saywhat-politics]

After being removed from the chamber, Rep. Al Green told the White House press pool: "It's worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up" to Trump.

[rontra]

they love to do a UI-based bit THEY LOVE IT

anyway after much groupchat rumination over In-game Adjectives and also Vibes, i made another UI Based Bit,

girl that is not a star shape. what is that hting