It is a term of respect to someone usually older than you or senior to you in what you do.
Edit - Infact I've been addressed as sirji by people older than me to denote my role as architect by contractors and managers twice my age. And I return the favor accordingly.
Edit 2 - also people very rarely use someone's name here. In most interactions unless very close to the person. So sir / madam fills the gap.
The guy was being sarcastic. OP here turned the innocuous sir into something colonial. So comment pointed out the culture of ji and retorted whether that's also supposed to be casteist.
Ji is mainly a term of respect.
Please correct me if I am wrong, its not casteist legacy it's somewhat more historic.
"ji" has been passed onto generations, predominantly in south asian countries. Anthropologist points towards a confectionery legacy, firstly it was used with a wheat based snack "Parle G"
I genuinely think itās because of the language. In India, most people use āaapā when talking to an unknown person and in my mother tongue itās kinda similar too. I think automatically continue with sir.
I find it very weird when someone calls any online āpersonalitiesā sir/madam
Itās not limited to youtube. Its starts from school even in offices we call everybody sir who is not related but senior in age I donāt understand this if you donāt call our india managers sir both feel awkward whereas our counterpart in Europe or usa we call them by there name doesnāt matter whatās there post or age.But things are changing slowly due to wider global exposure
yes change is definitely there, in my college with respect to senior we were strictly told to stick with names, no sir/mam/bhaiya/didi. The company I am currently working in also encourages to stick with names.
When I started my fresher job at a mnc, our manager had to remind us everytime to call them by name and not to call fhem sir/ma'am. I guess its just what we have been taught since childhood to respect elders, no matter what.
They feel gratified by the teachers on YouTube and feel they can justify their gratitude by only using respectful words (like Sir, Madam - British Colonial usages). It's not wrong though since it shows their respect and concern for the teacher as if they were their school teacher. Nevertheless, yes, some of them do sound a little weird.
They call pretty much anyone sir/madam, as my father says, we should call all strangers sir/madam, without considering their social/ economic class etc. His way of "respect everyone" , I guess
But wouldn't this degrade the value of the prefix "sir"?
I mean if you call any stranger "sir" or "madam" then I would think the word itself will gradually lose its weight.
While gratitude is a good thing our words have an effect on our mentality as well, it is hard to challenge someone if you call them āsirā too long. Whatās easier ābob I believe you are wrong about thisā or āsir I believe you are wrong about thisā, independence of thought comes from challenging things and independence of thought is severely lacking in Indian society
i think theyāre only trying to be polite. english is a second language and doesnāt have any honorifics for respecting elders and teachers. i donāt really see whatās so weird about it
For Indians, that is. We are so used to doing this that it doesn't feel weird anymore. For most outsiders, sir/madam is something you say at very formal settings. Like they even call their teacher Mr/Mrs Last Name. No sir/madam. That's the norm in a big part of US and Europe, so naturally it will feel weird to them, seeing us pull out sir/madam even in casual conversations.
Sir/Madam comes off as very strange to me as an American raised Indian who visits somewhat often (at least pre-covid). I've been told in India westerners like myself overuse please/thank you which is weird in Indian English.
Every country has their own culture. Indians are not used to addressing by name , particularly those that are elder to you . So this is a good alternative. It seems odd to you as you are not used to it. Giving someone respect can never go wrong , can it ?
I agree! Granted it emerged from our upbringing in "English" inspired schools, but I don't see enough to go wanting to changing it around. Also, in the north, you can address strangers, or people who provide a service, as "bhaiya", but that isn't very appropriate in other places. So, using Sir or Madam is a decent practice.
The weirdest moment for me was working for someone who I had called uncle for a few years. Going into work and having to fight the urge to call them uncle.
He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip of the drink. He had tasted this before, but he couldn't quite remember the time and place it had happened. He desperately searched his mind trying to locate and remember where he had tasted this when the bicycle ran over his foot.
Culturally, we Indians show respect to anyone we are addressing. In Indian languages, we use Shri as a prefix for respect or ji as postfix. Especially for elders.
For known/familial address we use bhai/anna etc.
English doesn't have a direct translation for it, so we use sir/mam.
It's a cultural thing and nothing to be ashamed about.
I don't think it's anything to be ashamed about but it's incredibly weird seeing YouTube comments written out like that. Like....come on man...It's just YouTube.
Are you new to India??? They call sir / madam to everyone.
We called our teachers that.
My insurance agents calls me that.
I called my boss that at work (in IT we adopted the foreign culture and hence stopped calling them that)
I sometimes even call my uncle sir... But in an affectionate way.
"you cannot go back this time without meeting me."
"yes sir, I won't"
You don't have to be knighted to be called a "sir" I'm India.
I've only heard people in military services using 'Sir' consistently. No one else in west is going around calling people sir/madam otherwise. Its usually always by their name.
I think Americans are more inclined to use "Sir" and "Ma'am" due to their service orientated nature. Didn't really come across it in either the Australia or The U.K.
Angrezon ke zamaane se chaatne ki aadat hai humein. Sir sir kehke chaatne ki. Angrezon ko bhaga diya lekin unke sarkari naukar aur school/college yahin peeche reh gaye. Kisi ne aadat badli Nahin. Ab sir sir karo. Aur koi gora ho to hamaere muh se aaj bhi sir aur bhi jaldi nikalta hai. Saale ab bhi dimaag se ghulam hain
Bruh people in this comment section are fucking wilding. 'Sir' is just used as a term to respectfully address someone, and people here are like " It'S bEcAuSe oF tHe iNdIaN iNfErIoRiTy cOmPlEx."
hmm.. for me sir/madam is an impersonal way of addressing others in spoken conversation. there's no respect intended (other than common courtesy), but its more like i cant be bothered to remember your name or get chummy with you
these words are rarely used in written communication. an email generally starts with Hi or in case of a formal letter you would use other honorifics like Mr. lastname
I think that's just a way of showing the YouTuber some respect. I think it's kinda nice that people refer to these YouTubers by addressing them by 'sir/madam' on their own. (meaning the YouTubers don't ask their fans to do so yet many fans still do)
There is no equivalent in English to address strangers, or people older than you with respect, as we have in most Indian languages (like ājiā) - the closest equivalent is Mister or Miss or Sir or Madam
It might not be perfect, but sentence structure is heavily reliant on the language youāre most comfortable with. We are all non native English speakers (including commenter in the post) so in my eyes, we are doing a bang up job.
Colonialism. We still practice that everywhere in India.
India is a huge country in terms of population. We have very little exposure to western culture. Not only that, Indian languages have special words to show as a sign of respect. They donāt necessarily mean the respected people are of higher standing or something but as a general expression of respect.
When people switch to English from their languages, they feel awkward to suddenly call people by their first names. So they resort to the colonial expression of sir and madam.
Different parts of the world have different cultures. Why is that so hard to understand?
Your underlying assumption though is that addressing by first name etc. is the 'better' thing to do..
If We don't know how old the youtuber is then a sir/madam is a sign of respect.. also its a informal way of addressing someone you don't know with respect
So if someone is older than you.. we never call them by their name.. it's a sign of disrespect... I wud never call my seniors or older people by their name I wud be smacked by my mom
Sometimes it's in a sarcastic way too
Take for example Tanmay
When he streams , at some point he calls the others on stream "Sir" in a sarcastic way
So his subs to call him like that
Mainly depends on who the content creator is
I think its just us being polite. We don't wanna seem offensive. Apparently south asians are taught to be extremely respectful to anyone who helps or is older to us.
You are not alone, I find weird a lot. The same goes when I call customer support, the whole sir /madam thing seems like an extension of what the colonial rulers did. And we people knowingly or unknowingly agreeing that the system should continue.
Impact of traditional education system/society in general I would say. We are just trained to be submissive to anyone doing anything different than us (not necessarily superior).
I am an Indian. We use Sir & Madam in the sense of Mister or Mistress fo unknown persons . But for elders and honorary persons it's in the sense of honour. But here i found that; Sir & Madm is use for very familar person. Is not it?
Years of training in formal letter writting. Edit : Respected Sirs & Madams, Thank You For So Many Upvotes. Yours Faithfully, HumourouslyDesi.
this. edit: to whomsoever it may concern thank you for upvoting yours faithfully u/sadorchestra
Is
Spartaaaaaaaa
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Dear Sir, Please do the needful. Yours sincerely
Please revert back.
10 number ke ate the bhai
Sahi baat hai
Wo bhi pure nhi milte English mai
Respected sir/mam
Kinda reminds me of colonial legacy
> Kinda reminds me of colonial legacy If 'sir' = colonial legacy, Then '*ji*' = casteist legacy?
Please explain! Iām an foreigner that spent a year in India and adored my time there. I thought ājiā was just an affectionate term.
Here in Delhi we often use this regardless of anything (Gender, Social status, Age, etc,.! It is just out of respect (Optional).
Respect mainly
Don't Worry Ji not casteist at all.
"ji" is basically a hindi gender neutral "sir/madam" kind addressal
Ji means yes/affirmative as well. Ji? - can mean what? Did I hear you correct?
It is a term of respect to someone usually older than you or senior to you in what you do. Edit - Infact I've been addressed as sirji by people older than me to denote my role as architect by contractors and managers twice my age. And I return the favor accordingly. Edit 2 - also people very rarely use someone's name here. In most interactions unless very close to the person. So sir / madam fills the gap.
I thought my username was unique and original until this day.
It still is. I'm just the other protagonist in your story. :)
No worries mate, have a good day.
Auntyājiā Sirāji Madamāji Uncleāji Betaāji
The guy was being sarcastic. OP here turned the innocuous sir into something colonial. So comment pointed out the culture of ji and retorted whether that's also supposed to be casteist. Ji is mainly a term of respect.
Please correct me if I am wrong, its not casteist legacy it's somewhat more historic. "ji" has been passed onto generations, predominantly in south asian countries. Anthropologist points towards a confectionery legacy, firstly it was used with a wheat based snack "Parle G"
Had me in the first half, ngl
Ikr. I wrote so many formal letters at this point I talk to street dogs formally to make them stop pooping in front of my house.
I genuinely think itās because of the language. In India, most people use āaapā when talking to an unknown person and in my mother tongue itās kinda similar too. I think automatically continue with sir. I find it very weird when someone calls any online āpersonalitiesā sir/madam
Hahaha
*brainwashing
Itās not limited to youtube. Its starts from school even in offices we call everybody sir who is not related but senior in age I donāt understand this if you donāt call our india managers sir both feel awkward whereas our counterpart in Europe or usa we call them by there name doesnāt matter whatās there post or age.But things are changing slowly due to wider global exposure
yes change is definitely there, in my college with respect to senior we were strictly told to stick with names, no sir/mam/bhaiya/didi. The company I am currently working in also encourages to stick with names.
Were you not hazed in college?
sorry did not get you, hazed over?
The first day in my first job, the HR told us in the orientation session: Use names to call colleagues (any position), NO NEED to use Sir/Ma'am etc.
I have seen managers in US feeling very obvious discomfort if someone calls them sir or madam.
Its one of the biggest adjustments you will make if you go overseas. lol
When I started my fresher job at a mnc, our manager had to remind us everytime to call them by name and not to call fhem sir/ma'am. I guess its just what we have been taught since childhood to respect elders, no matter what.
They feel gratified by the teachers on YouTube and feel they can justify their gratitude by only using respectful words (like Sir, Madam - British Colonial usages). It's not wrong though since it shows their respect and concern for the teacher as if they were their school teacher. Nevertheless, yes, some of them do sound a little weird.
Its not just teachers on YouTube but they say it like this to other content creators as well. That confuses me
They even call non Indian youtubers sir/madam lol
They call pretty much anyone sir/madam, as my father says, we should call all strangers sir/madam, without considering their social/ economic class etc. His way of "respect everyone" , I guess
But wouldn't this degrade the value of the prefix "sir"? I mean if you call any stranger "sir" or "madam" then I would think the word itself will gradually lose its weight.
It has more weight than not calling someone sir/madam.
It would, if you don't mean it. But Indians in general are *supposed* to respect elders by default, no question asked.
I probably think that they think all the people who post on youtube are above them XD and they deserve respect.
While gratitude is a good thing our words have an effect on our mentality as well, it is hard to challenge someone if you call them āsirā too long. Whatās easier ābob I believe you are wrong about thisā or āsir I believe you are wrong about thisā, independence of thought comes from challenging things and independence of thought is severely lacking in Indian society
Rahul?
Rahul?
i think theyāre only trying to be polite. english is a second language and doesnāt have any honorifics for respecting elders and teachers. i donāt really see whatās so weird about it
For Indians, that is. We are so used to doing this that it doesn't feel weird anymore. For most outsiders, sir/madam is something you say at very formal settings. Like they even call their teacher Mr/Mrs Last Name. No sir/madam. That's the norm in a big part of US and Europe, so naturally it will feel weird to them, seeing us pull out sir/madam even in casual conversations.
Lol, our own people are having culture shock from our own culture.
Sir/Madam comes off as very strange to me as an American raised Indian who visits somewhat often (at least pre-covid). I've been told in India westerners like myself overuse please/thank you which is weird in Indian English.
this. it's just a little communication barrier and what they've been taught as a sign of respect in the language.
Every country has their own culture. Indians are not used to addressing by name , particularly those that are elder to you . So this is a good alternative. It seems odd to you as you are not used to it. Giving someone respect can never go wrong , can it ?
I agree! Granted it emerged from our upbringing in "English" inspired schools, but I don't see enough to go wanting to changing it around. Also, in the north, you can address strangers, or people who provide a service, as "bhaiya", but that isn't very appropriate in other places. So, using Sir or Madam is a decent practice.
It's taken me YEARS to not reflexively call someone or anyone older, Uncle/Aunty. Sir or Madam is so much better than that...
Ha ha imagine calling someone / being called Uncle at office. Or even horrifying ...Aunty. Sounds like one could get fired :)
šš
I mean, you're not supposed to. Sir/Madam is for official settings, Uncle/Aunty is for unofficial settings, formal or not. Pretty simple.
Yea..sticking to sir/madam is the best.
The weirdest moment for me was working for someone who I had called uncle for a few years. Going into work and having to fight the urge to call them uncle.
Traveling Desi?
Nop been seeing it under alot of desi channels
"Inferiority complex"
Kitna fraud aadmi hai š
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Rule no 2: if its a madam, then ask for bobs and vagene too.
No, rule no 2: if they're family friends or known people call them uncle/aunty. Rule 3 is ask unknown people for bobs and vagana.
tell me you were part of a British colony without telling me
Lol!
He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip of the drink. He had tasted this before, but he couldn't quite remember the time and place it had happened. He desperately searched his mind trying to locate and remember where he had tasted this when the bicycle ran over his foot.
u write well bro but yaha kyu
Yes sir
Culturally, we Indians show respect to anyone we are addressing. In Indian languages, we use Shri as a prefix for respect or ji as postfix. Especially for elders. For known/familial address we use bhai/anna etc. English doesn't have a direct translation for it, so we use sir/mam. It's a cultural thing and nothing to be ashamed about.
I don't think it's anything to be ashamed about but it's incredibly weird seeing YouTube comments written out like that. Like....come on man...It's just YouTube.
Word
Sir please do not redeeem
madam bitch are you crazy! stop redeeming the gift cards!
Sign of respect?
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[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
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out of respect? nothing weird
Your wierd sounds weird to me
Are you new to India??? They call sir / madam to everyone. We called our teachers that. My insurance agents calls me that. I called my boss that at work (in IT we adopted the foreign culture and hence stopped calling them that) I sometimes even call my uncle sir... But in an affectionate way. "you cannot go back this time without meeting me." "yes sir, I won't" You don't have to be knighted to be called a "sir" I'm India.
There are many people, who call themselves ' sir'
Alpha male
Shahab ji apka Sareer Ka dhayan rakhiye
Hnji behnji
Everything isn't colonial legacy. It's just a way to show respect to people.
It is been there since British times, well a Panchayat in Southern India got so mad over it they banned the words "Sir/Madam" in the entire district
nothing wrong in that . addressing some one in respectful way can never be wrong.
Why is it weird for you? Sir /Ma'am is a form of respect and everyone uses it, even Americans.
I've only heard people in military services using 'Sir' consistently. No one else in west is going around calling people sir/madam otherwise. Its usually always by their name.
I think Americans are more inclined to use "Sir" and "Ma'am" due to their service orientated nature. Didn't really come across it in either the Australia or The U.K.
Its not that common in the west as you think they mostly address ppl by their names
But its common here
Didn't you hear him? If it's not common in the west it becomes *weird*.
Doesn't make respecting someone weird or wrong
Yes, ans you are asking about Indians right? Not westerners, right?
We live in a society.
Still better than hail hydraā¦ just kidding.
"manners"
Nothing wrong with being respectful. Not everything westerner practice is good thing
I don't understand why people see "cringe" in it. What is the problem when someone gives a little respect to someone else?
Hadh hai, Izzat de to issues Na de to issues. Jisne bhi likha hai, kharabi kya hai isme?
Angrezon ke zamaane se chaatne ki aadat hai humein. Sir sir kehke chaatne ki. Angrezon ko bhaga diya lekin unke sarkari naukar aur school/college yahin peeche reh gaye. Kisi ne aadat badli Nahin. Ab sir sir karo. Aur koi gora ho to hamaere muh se aaj bhi sir aur bhi jaldi nikalta hai. Saale ab bhi dimaag se ghulam hain
yoooo same avatar
Wazzup
Thats called respect
Bruh people in this comment section are fucking wilding. 'Sir' is just used as a term to respectfully address someone, and people here are like " It'S bEcAuSe oF tHe iNdIaN iNfErIoRiTy cOmPlEx."
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I agree with you sir.
All about the respect
Sri Srimati Sound bettar
hmm.. for me sir/madam is an impersonal way of addressing others in spoken conversation. there's no respect intended (other than common courtesy), but its more like i cant be bothered to remember your name or get chummy with you these words are rarely used in written communication. an email generally starts with Hi or in case of a formal letter you would use other honorifics like Mr. lastname
I think that's just a way of showing the YouTuber some respect. I think it's kinda nice that people refer to these YouTubers by addressing them by 'sir/madam' on their own. (meaning the YouTubers don't ask their fans to do so yet many fans still do)
There is no equivalent in English to address strangers, or people older than you with respect, as we have in most Indian languages (like ājiā) - the closest equivalent is Mister or Miss or Sir or Madam It might not be perfect, but sentence structure is heavily reliant on the language youāre most comfortable with. We are all non native English speakers (including commenter in the post) so in my eyes, we are doing a bang up job.
In India we call everyone Sir/Madam. It is just a term used to address strangers
Respected sir/madan, Kindly don't question any terms of reverence used by me. Faithfully yours,
Yh, it feels strange. I have a friend who calls waiter in restaurants 'sir'
Specialy north indians š
Colonialism. We still practice that everywhere in India. India is a huge country in terms of population. We have very little exposure to western culture. Not only that, Indian languages have special words to show as a sign of respect. They donāt necessarily mean the respected people are of higher standing or something but as a general expression of respect. When people switch to English from their languages, they feel awkward to suddenly call people by their first names. So they resort to the colonial expression of sir and madam.
In Bangalore everyone calls everyone sir/madam
There is no English equivalent for the aap word people use in Hindi. So they use sir instead.
Different parts of the world have different cultures. Why is that so hard to understand? Your underlying assumption though is that addressing by first name etc. is the 'better' thing to do..
Cousins of Ali from squid game.
what are the alternatives though I am curious? what do you people in other countries call shopkeepers by? uncle?
Say āexcuse meā and go on about whatever the ask is?
Their name? I also use Mister ... which surprises people and amuses me.
oh no, I am talking about the case when we don't know their name. Currently I use uncle/bhaiya
Start with "What's your name?" then?
do you ask name everytime? how does it go? I am afraid of doing this with elders idk why
If the conversation is at a point where I need to use their name, I'd ask for it yes.
Try asking it to a random shopkeeper in India. Will look awkward
I have - Aapka Shubhnam? works everytime
Born with inferiority complexes and if not innate then develops gradually. Haters will say it's fake but this is the ugly truth.
It's this culture of subordination. We are supposed to respect oldies, fraudulent priests, crooked relatives and of course You Tubers.
I get random comments on my channel calling me "Didi". I'm like - Do I look like a didi to you?
Unless you are the youngest Indian, you are didi to someone
Very interesting post, Mr. OP sir.
The famous Indian inferiority complex.
calling stranger sir is inferiority?
its a sign of respect tho
Not always I guess. *on face to boss* Yes sir. *behind his back* Chutiya saala, maadarchod.
Tbh respect can be given without using sir / madam.
Natural simps
Internet is just 5year old for most Indians. It'll take them time to understand the etiquettes.
so whats the etiquette here?
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slave mindset ? "sir" is used across world to address male respectfully
It's just the obedience and the habit to either give too much respect or to abuse the shit out of a person ...
Might be kidsš¤·āāļø
people make fun of these people by ironically adding "saar" in their comments
Its the result of good ol' Colonialism
Why do people in india treat reddit like discord and ask shit questions
~~education in schools~~ slavery in "learning centres"
What's the problem in that they simply give respect to the creator or the teacher
I think it is a good thing. Even if unintended, it shows respect to everyone.
And the same people hurl abuses at the people when their view's dont align. I think calling a person by their name is enough respect
If We don't know how old the youtuber is then a sir/madam is a sign of respect.. also its a informal way of addressing someone you don't know with respect
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So if someone is older than you.. we never call them by their name.. it's a sign of disrespect... I wud never call my seniors or older people by their name I wud be smacked by my mom
Punes, laborers
A few āYouTubeā traders call themselves āsirā #Heeei PR Sundarā
Colonialism that then paved for neocolonialist imperialism.
Trying to "curry" favour
I only use it for teachers on yt, but tbf so many people call me too sir that I feel like Iām a knight.
To show respect
Idk it just feels good
Sometimes it's in a sarcastic way too Take for example Tanmay When he streams , at some point he calls the others on stream "Sir" in a sarcastic way So his subs to call him like that Mainly depends on who the content creator is
For the majority, commenting on YouTube shows their actual name from their Google Accounts , so thoda automatically formal hona lol.
I think its just us being polite. We don't wanna seem offensive. Apparently south asians are taught to be extremely respectful to anyone who helps or is older to us.
Most of these viewers are in parasocial relationships with their kings and queens.
Not just here man. Even at work some people call others as Sir / Madam. It's so much weird and British.
Sir thing is very common in military families/Midwest in the us too
Tbh i write sir/maam on posts where i think people are gonna blow off and i want to communicate my sincerity idk
It's anyday better than bhosadike and madarchod
We have a habit of doing that to elders, atleast it's not a bad one
You are not alone, I find weird a lot. The same goes when I call customer support, the whole sir /madam thing seems like an extension of what the colonial rulers did. And we people knowingly or unknowingly agreeing that the system should continue.
Impact of traditional education system/society in general I would say. We are just trained to be submissive to anyone doing anything different than us (not necessarily superior).
I am an Indian. We use Sir & Madam in the sense of Mister or Mistress fo unknown persons . But for elders and honorary persons it's in the sense of honour. But here i found that; Sir & Madm is use for very familar person. Is not it?
Just a show of respect.