Introducing English Linguistics

Dr
Vernon, is this the way to make depressed people happy? 
(BNC HV1 17)
Thank you Mister Smith for calling Pacific Bell.
(SBCSAE)
English has other titles used as honorifics (e.g. Miss, Ms,  Sir, Madam,
General, Colonel, President, Prime Minister, and Officer) as well as terms of
address that have very restricted uses: your hono(u)r, sir, and madam (which
in Southern American English can be shortened to ma’am). Your hono(u)r is
used in a court of law to address a judge:
That is the agreement, your honor, and on behalf of Mr. Downey, we
would now withdraw all pending motions of demur that are now pend-
ing before the court.
(archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/07/16/downey.
probation.cnna/index.html, accessed January 22, 2007)
Sir and  madam (ma’am) are found in face-to-face conversations where
speakers are disparates and the subordinate wants to show a high degree
of deference to the other. These expressions are also found in the saluta-
tion of highly formal letters. In the examples below, sir and  ma’am  are
used by servers to address customers in a restaurant: 
Have you been helped, sir? 
(MICASE SVC999MX104)
And what did you want ma’am
(SBCSAE)
In the next example, madam is used to address a caller on a radio talk
show:
I’m terribly sorry madam, I’m terribly sorry madam, you might die if
you take this drug 
(BNC HV1 447)
The social context of English
63

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In the final example, the highly formulaic Dear Sir(s) begins a letter:
Dear Sirs,
You ought to be aware of a potentially serious problem caused by a
recurring leak ... 
(ICE-GB W1B-016 102)
In personal letters, in contrast, people tend to address each other by
first name, an indication that both writer and addressee are equals and
that little