Gender-Neutral Alternatives For “Sir,” “Madam,” And “Ma’am”
It’s a dilemma: you want to be polite when addressing a person or getting their attention, but you don’t know their gender. That means sir, madam, ma’am, miss, and other gendered terms of address and honorifics are out. So what should you do? The traditional ways of addressing people in English—especially at a distance, when a person might not know you’re talking to them—can present …