How do you address your elders, and has it changed?

[somethingsin]

I always call my parents by their first names, and I have done so for years.
somehow mom seems too childish and mother/father seem to precocious (is that the right word here).

With other adults I never know what to say...
Family is pretty much first name, as are those friends of my parents who I see regularly. Otherwise I avoid adressing people directly

 

[CrashClint]

This has to go both ways. No one owes his or her parents respect; parents must earn respect just like anyone else. So by this logic, a parent should call his or her children sir and ma'am too.

It is MHO and I may be wrong, but unless a parent has really mistreated their child, there should be a natural respect just because you are addressing the people who brought you into this world and kids have a natural tendency to want to please. Even though my 18 year old son and I do not always see things in the same light and have had some heated discussions, hey, we are Irish, but he still uses his manners and treats me with respect. When I talk to him, I do not belittle or berate him, I talk to him the way I want to be talked to. On ocassion he will try me and I have to be stern and set boundaries. Even though he doesn't show it, I have heard him talking about friends who's parents do not care what they do. He has even thanked me for not letting him do things when finds out the people he was getting ready to hang-out with got into serious trouble.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Parents: Mom and Dad.

Other adults: First name.

At work: sir or ma'am if they are above me in rank (unless we're on an explicitly first name basis or they are really close in rank and I know them) and if they are below me in rank then it is by their rank unless I know them well in which case I'll use their first name.

 

[AdlerAugen]

depends. People from church I call uncle/ aunty or if they're under 30-ish then by their first name only, parents (this may sound strange) but unless I'm around friends I call them mommy/ daddy out of force of habit, but with friends and anyone else it's just mom/ dad, or dr. if they are one, mr. mrs. for teachers, sir/ ma'am for sucking up and being polite (like when I used to have a fastfood job, sir/ ma'am was standard vocabulary for referring to customers, and everyone I called by first name except the real old ladies, which I just call aunty. Even the managers I called by first names only, and nicknames more like).

 

[Jazzin']

Mama and Dada.

 

[lowenduser]

mum and dad for the parents. I've heard people call their parents by the first name, which is fine by me, but I'd be uncomfortable doing it myself. How do I address other elders? By the name I was indroduced to them by. If I am unsure, I use "Mr./Mrs." until told otherwise, unless it's a doc or priest.