"May I Be Excused?"

[stevea]

We had no yes, sirs and no, sirs when I was a kid, but I do occasionally remember occasionally having to say this. Maybe it was only if my grandmother was over for dinner.

What about you?

[Tankeryanker]

"May I be excused, please?", is what we said.

[GentlemanJim]

Titles and formality were pretty rare in our home. In fact. we seldom bothered to qualify our remarks specifically for whoever the intended target was. Any question I was asking my mother, was clearly intended for her by the nature of the content. Same with Dad.. Whenever they didn't bother to answer, that was an implied "no".

But, I was always made to feel welcome to join in to any conversation to take place in front of me. Something that frequently caused friction at family gatherings where aunts and uncles were put aside by my unabashed willingness to insert myself into conversations where I had little qualification to be involved.

[Tankeryanker]

We did not say sir or ma'am as ma'am thought it made her sound old.

They were referred to as mom or dad. We used Mr., Miss, or Mrs to any other adult

[Scrabjan1]

We never said can I be excused when you were done we got up. Very informal. My mother sat with her legs to the side of the chair not under the table. She obviously didn’t want to sit with my father when he did manage to come home at an appropriate time.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

They were referred to as mom or dad. We used Mr., Miss, or Mrs to any other adult

This is another thing that's really changed. Kids ALWAYS called other adults Mr/Mrs/Miss. A kid never used an adult's first name.

And it bugs me when Beaver calls a woman he doesn't know, "lady." The way he says it sounds kind of derisive and rude. This is one instance where ma'am would fit. "I'm older than I look, ma'am." not "I'm older than I look, lady."

[MichaelMartinD]

Originally Posted by stevea

And it bugs me when Beaver calls a woman he doesn't know, "lady." The way he says it sounds kind of derisive and rude. This is one instance where ma'am would fit. "I'm older than I look, ma'am." not "I'm older than I look, lady."

I have noticed his use of "lady" and "mister," and I think it's just meant to represent typical kid-speak of that era. Although in old movies you will hear adults also using "lady" or "mister" to people they don't know, but these are usually somewhat rough or working-class characters.