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… 🤔
I can and do address people without gendered pronouns. OP was suggesting not addressing them with an honorific at all.
That might be the words they said while completely ignoring the examples, but those examples made it abundantly clear that they meant gendered pronouns.
Their examples:
The individual they are speaking to is not formally addressed. I’m not going to address a stranger informally.