Mdm or Miss

mark78

Active Member
Sorry, i am very confused over this two term.

Not just the dictionary context
Mdm is define as "Used as a form of polite address for a woman: E.g.Right this way, madam."

But will ladies younger then me be pissed off with this salutation?

Pleas share
 


carrot_carrot

New Member
Isn’t ‘mdm’ is a form of politeness?
Just like the retailers will address the ladies as ‘mdm’ n men as ‘sir’
 

salsa_babe

New Member
I dun find it offensive if someone would to address me as Madam.

you must be ogling at the SYT..and drooling at the same time...no wonder kena F by her
 

avrilsim

New Member
Hm... It kinda make a diff or at least sound diff when a person goes "mam" vs "madam"

I was thinking I could get upset at the full madam being address but seemingly okay with "mam"
 

mark78

Active Member
Well i was told that MDM is rude. I was WTF why rude. just becoz younger lady cannot be address as mdn. then the debate continue as asian culture blah blah blah. well maybe i am just reading the word from dictionary never really analyse if its okay for it to be used in SG or US.

This word "mdm" also bring negative remarks when address ladies over @ msn thus i am just wondering am i suay or what.

Well but Avril, mam and madam is the same leh..
 

avrilsim

New Member
Mark, I think many gals will find being called madam a little offensive.

I know that mam and madam is the same but the effect on me is lessen when someone calls me mam than madam lol!

Call me madam, I'll probably run to the toilet and look myself up and down to see where the hell have I aged. lol
 

cuclainne

New Member
i was faced with a somewhat similar dilemma while doing the room list for our recent department retreat .. so i decided that all ladies below 40 would be listed as Ms (whether they're married or not) and that above 40s would be listed as Mdm .. :p
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
Mdm is rude? Miss is rude if you are in china. u need to address the waitress as "service staffs".

We need to look at the context lah. No such thing as generic rule.
 

mark78

Active Member
yes yes.. u call ppl Xiao jie in china is calling them a wrench. i also gonna "F" in china for address a lady xiao jie in china.

cuc or is it just me. sure gonna "f" by female for calling them
 

avrilsim

New Member
Aiyah.. Just call everyone Miss la.

If they get offended, then just say "That's cos you look so young"

Where can you go wrong?
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
In China, 'Miss' is only used to address hostess and women in sexual services.

Don't be ignorant. You can go very wrong with the world's largest population.
 
Yes. In China, when trying to get the attention of service staff, you either address them as "fu wu yuan" (service staff) or "xiao mei". Under no circumstances should you address them as "xiao jie" unless you are itching for a slap.
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In SG context when filling in forms, I have the impression that Mdm is for married women who prefers to be addressed using their maiden surname while Miss is for single ladies.
 

avrilsim

New Member
Let me correct myself. I meant Miss as in English la. In china its different of cos. China you don't exactly use the english word "Miss" or "Madam" ma.
 

avrilsim

New Member
Hahahaha Yes definitely.

I tot the contention here was using the words "Miss" or "Madam" exactly ma.

Anyway, in some Chinese translation, Miss can be 姑娘 or 女士
 

onegoal

New Member
Using Madam is just being being formal and courtesy to ladies regardless of age.

If u get angry.......
it show how uninform, childish u are.....
 

mrs_beast

New Member
Men - call them boss ( lao ban )
women - call them ' pretty lady ' or ' swee cha bo'

Gurantee nothing will go wrong.
 

mark78

Active Member
Not very suitable to call everyone swee cha bo especially in the office context.

pretty lady tot i am flirting them up.
 

pinktweet

New Member
hmm.. my view is, "Mdm" sounds old only if it is followed by the person's name, eg. Mdm Tan, Mdm Wendy Lim, etc, and it is usually used to address married woman in a old-fashioned way .. and most woman will be offended if addressed as such, esp. young married women.

Whereas addressing a lady as "Madam" by itself without following with her name, sounds polite, esp. addresssed by a service staff ..
 

tomasulu

Member
call them by their first names. i did that to an executive vp of a bank during an interview. her pa was horrified but i got the job. if a lady wants to be addressed a mdm or ms, she can go eat at the mcdonalds.
 

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