Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
Look at the context of the question:
AOII Angel is answering the question specifically in the Southern context. In my (Southern) experience, Mr. First Name is a very common way for children (up to about15 or 16) to address the adult male friends of their parents and perhaps certain other men. I rarely hear an adult use it.
It doesn't work quite the same way as Miss First Name though. Miss First Name has always been a common way for a person of any age to refer to or address an older woman. (Miss, in this context by the way, has nothing to do with marital status. My grandmother and her sister, one married and one widowed, were widely known as Miss Mary and Miss Suzie 'til the day they died.) I have to say, though, that it is dying out.
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I still call the men I knew as a child as Mr. First Name. It's the culture of the portion of the South where I was raised. I even call my FIL Mr. FN and my husband calls my father the same. We do the same with women...Ms. FN. It's a sign of respect that never goes out of style like "ma'am" and "sir".