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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
"Sirs"?
Dear All,
If I want to address men but wouldn’t like to say ’’gentlemen’’ because of the connotations of the word, can I use ’’sirs’’ instead, even if it’s not in a letter but in another sort of writing or in a conversation?
Could you, please, let me know?
Thanks!
If I want to address men but wouldn’t like to say ’’gentlemen’’ because of the connotations of the word, can I use ’’sirs’’ instead, even if it’s not in a letter but in another sort of writing or in a conversation?
Could you, please, let me know?
Thanks!
Top answer
No, it would not be natural contemporary English.
- No, it would not be natural contemporary English.
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7 Answers
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Anonymouswouldn’t like to say ’’gentlemen’’ because of the connotations of the wordJust out of curiosity, which connotations are you referring to?
CJ
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Thanks, Mister Micawber and CalifJim.
I've always thought "gentleman" originally meant well-mannered and refined (the word "gentle" is there), and I still come across people saying/writing "he's a real gentleman". So I thought it may have preserved some of this shade of meaning to this day. Has it? And if yes, and you don't want any of such a shade, could you then say "Men!" instead in a
I've always thought "gentleman" originally meant well-mannered and refined (the word "gentle" is there), and I still come across people saying/writing "he's a real gentleman". So I thought it may have preserved some of this shade of meaning to this day. Has it? And if yes, and you don't want any of such a shade, could you then say "Men!" instead in a
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As I suspect you know, most words have more than one meaning. That is the case here. The word 'gentlemen' used in direct address is a fixed utterance, a gesture of courtesy only, and carries no other content. Note that the singular cannot be used to address a lone listener.
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Hi all
I think part of the problem is that "Gentlemen" and "Sirs" assumes an all-male audience. In itself, this makes such a phrase uncontemporary. If you are in a men's changing room then, in fact, I think "Gentlemen" might work: as Mr M says, it will be taken as a gesture of courtesy (or perhaps mild humour)
In other contexts..
- We really must, colleagues, look seri
I think part of the problem is that "Gentlemen" and "Sirs" assumes an all-male audience. In itself, this makes such a phrase uncontemporary. If you are in a men's changing room then, in fact, I think "Gentlemen" might work: as Mr M says, it will be taken as a gesture of courtesy (or perhaps mild humour)
In other contexts..
- We really must, colleagues, look seri
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Thank you very much, Mister Micawber, CalifJim and Dave_Anon! 
[Y] This forum rocks because of you and your fellow teachers!
[Y] This forum rocks because of you and your fellow teachers!00
AnonymousSo I thought it may have preserved some of this shade of meaning to this day. Has it? And if yes, and you don't want any of such a shade, could you then say "Men!" insteadIf you just address an audience of men as "Gentlemen" nobody is going to think of the word "gentle" at all. It's much like "butterfly". When we hear "butterfly" we think of an ins
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