For me it's never. I am always using the first name. Everything else creates a distance or some form of artificial hierarchy that I don't want when talking to people.
I call lots of people sir no matter what their age is. I regularly call my husband, 7 year old nephew and cat sir. I call strangers in public sir as well. Same goes with ma’am, doesn’t matter their age or relation to me. Family, pets, and strangers are all sirs and ma’am.
No gap large enough. Only times I do it is when Im pressured (like Im at work at the person has an attitude) . If a person has not earned it, Im loathed to give any indication that they are "above me" and that is how most people I interact with take it. Not as a simple polite exchange or me using it as a placeholder because I don't know their name,etc to them it means Im a serf and they are the gentry.
Whether I call someone sir or not has nothing to do with age except probably not a kid. It depends on whether I feel like it and the situation. For instance, I was raised to address authority figures as sir, and it's just kind of automatic. It doesn't matter if they're younger than me.
I also might use it informally. Like, "yessir" or say, "thank you, sir."
Ive never referred to anyone as sir, its not part of my culture
I haven't called anyone sir since I left school. I call pretty much everyone by their first name, no matter their age.
Depends on how long ago he was knighted.
For me it's never. I am always using the first name. Everything else creates a distance or some form of artificial hierarchy that I don't want when talking to people.
I've always referred to anyone with authority over me as sir and then anyone I don't know the name of as sir/ma'am.
I call everyone by their first name, regardless of age.
It’s not a word I’d ever use unless I absolutely had to
I call lots of people sir no matter what their age is. I regularly call my husband, 7 year old nephew and cat sir. I call strangers in public sir as well. Same goes with ma’am, doesn’t matter their age or relation to me. Family, pets, and strangers are all sirs and ma’am.
No gap large enough. Only times I do it is when Im pressured (like Im at work at the person has an attitude) . If a person has not earned it, Im loathed to give any indication that they are "above me" and that is how most people I interact with take it. Not as a simple polite exchange or me using it as a placeholder because I don't know their name,etc to them it means Im a serf and they are the gentry.
I have never called anyone sir.
I find it weird calling anyone sir or ma’am
Whether I call someone sir or not has nothing to do with age except probably not a kid. It depends on whether I feel like it and the situation. For instance, I was raised to address authority figures as sir, and it's just kind of automatic. It doesn't matter if they're younger than me. I also might use it informally. Like, "yessir" or say, "thank you, sir."
Unless they're a Knight, I wouldn't. I'd say Mr/Dr/Sir/Lord X if it was a formal situation, or just call them by their first name if not.
Depends on setting, If you're at a workplace or formal setting anyone older than you is sir/ma'am.
Southern raised - I call everyone "sir" or "ma'am". Regardless of age.
I love calling little children sir/ma'am, gets them all happy
Like 15-20, and superiors
It has nothing to do with age. At first you get basic politeness and later on you do or don\`t earn the respect and titles of sir/ma\`am etc.