I was raised to address strangers and those I wish to show social deference to as “Sir” or “Ma’am”. It’s a difficult habit to break, as it is deeply engrained.
What is an equivalent gender neutral honorific that is relatively common in English? If I can’t break the habit I’d rather have a substitute word to use instead of an awkward pause in the middle of addressing someone
I’d just use Google to ask but I’d rather ask the people directly rather than an AI generated answer based off of Reddit threads
ETA: I suppose if Yessir and Yes’m work, Yesn’t could too? Mostly joking… but maybe… 🤔
Also if you have to hand someone off to another colleague, I find you can just use “we”, and it still feels polite. At least compared to calling them “the customer” (clumsy) or “they” (weird, when they’re right next to you). 😃
“So, we’re looking for [product], and we need it to be [thing]. Oh, and we have a budget of £25.”
Yes, I’ve done this, as well. It definitely works.