Ma'am

I find it interesting that there seems to be a cultural difference in regards to the word ma'am. Where I am from, (Ottawa, Ontario) it is considered rude to call someone ma'am unless they are visibly over the age of 50. A lot of younger people would get scolded at high school jobs for calling a woman ma'am. The proper term to use is miss. I was also watchin a television show last night, where the woman was in her late 30's and she started to feel old because a younger man called her ma'am. This was in Seattle, I think? I've seen it in a show that took place in Boston as well.

Here in upstate South Carolina however, it is common to call everyone ma'am and considered polite, no matter what the age. I have been called ma'am on many occasions, and I find it amusing, since I'm obviously young and I know it isn't reserved for only older women as it is where I am from.

Which way is ma'am used or interpreted as where you're from? Any other words come to mind with this kind of effect?

Here most people don't use any sort of honorific like that, to the point that it takes me by surprise if someone does.

So I think "ma'am" and "miss" are both pretty equally acceptable for women here, people just never use them.

Never ever used. Maybe perhaps to address the Queen or a female officer who is higher ranked than yourself if you're in the army/police. Madam is more common in Britain.

for me its just a way of being polite to a woman.
though i find it a bit uncomfy hen they someb0dy calls me ma'am, becaus i also think its for the older ppl. though i say about 25+

Ma'am is the female version of Sir. Or so that's how I was taught. So anyone you don't know deserves a Ma'am or Sir if they are older than you or not. You don't know if they deserve the respect or not but you should give it anyway because it's polite!

When people call me ma'am it makes me feel old and I feel sad.

25+? smurf, I feel old suddenly.

Ah, I never use titles like ma'am or sir unless it is required by the type of accent that I am using. I think those terms can be rather outdated!

I like how you guys don't like being called "ma'am" cause it makes you feel old, but I don't like being called "ma'am" because it sounds girly as hell and I'm not :colbert:

Ma'am and Miss are very common in the Philippines, as they're still deeply rooted in tradition and courtesy.

In Denmark, it's like, "hey, you". :(

I'll use both "ma'am" and "miss" for most ages, though now that I think about it I think I use "miss" more in professional contexts.

I think people who try to use any word like Ma'am, miss, or my lady when the setting is inappropriate are fedorable.

I live in the South. Everyone is Ma'am. Sometimes people are Miss too, though. If I refer to a non-present third party it's Ms though.

Almost no one says ma'am or sir up here in the Northeast. But when I go to the South, like noted, I'm always ma'am even though I'm younger than most people who have called me it. It's pretty amusing xD

I get called both. Miss makes me feel like a kid, ma'am makes me wonder if I look old or something. I don't mind either though, I think it's nice.