Sir is an old courtesy. What did it mean and when was it used?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Man is a social being and cannot exist without communication. And any communication begins with an appeal, and it is advisable to use a polite form in addressing the interlocutor. Today, a conversation with strangers begins with the words "man", "woman", "girl", "respected", "lady", "uncle" and the like, which in essence are not etiquette norms at all.

Another way to start a conversation with a stranger is to skip the conversation, in which case the conversation begins with phrases like "be kind (please)", "sorry" and the like, which by and large also does not sound particularly polite. And in the relatively recent past, some hundred years ago, in order to start a conversation, one could use the respectful address "sir" or "madame".

Madame and sir

Madame and sir are, respectively, female and male forms of respectful address, which were widely used in pre-revolutionary Russia until the beginning of anti-government protests in 1917. For convenience, hereinafter we will use the masculine form of this address, implying that everything said applies equally to the feminine form of this word.

The respectful treatment "sir" occurred when the word "sovereign" was shortened by discarding the first syllable. These two terms, which are etiquette appeals, have the same meaning, and the literal decoding of the word "sovereign" and, accordingly, "sir" is a hospitable host.

When did you use this address?

Sir is an address that was used to emphasize respect for the interlocutor. It was mainly used in relation to the intelligentsia, the upper strata of society - people of "noble blood" or noble noble origin. As a rule, persons who did not belong to aristocratic families, even being financially secure (for example, merchants), did not use this treatment. However, for them in imperial Russia there were etiquette appeals - for example, the word "dignified".

This word, like the terms "boyar", "lady" and "lady", was used when it was necessary to address someone without giving their first and last name. To address someone by name, as today,the words "Mr" and "Madam" were used.

Is it appropriate to call "sir" today?

After the revolution of 1917, all appeals applied to the intelligentsia were taken out of use, and they were replaced by the common words "citizen" and "comrade", which are still actively used in various fields of activity. For example, the word "comrade" is actively used in the Armed Forces. The address "mister" ("lady") also became stable, but it is personified, used only for a specific person with a surname. But, as for the word "sir" - today it is archaic. And if this word is used in the media or literature dedicated to the present time, then most likely the author used it to express irony or a smile.

As you can see, historically, courteous appeals to strangers disappeared from Russian speech etiquette: the word "citizen" sounds too formal, "comrade" - quickly fell out of use with the demise of the USSR. And although in other countries there are polite forms of address, such as "sir", "mister", "monsieur", "pan", in modern Russia, replacements for the obsolete "sir" and "madame" have not yet been invented.