John’s usually pretty astute, however this line really stuck out at me: Fifth: Fuck this “sir” shit. We don’t have titles in the United States. He seems to forget that the US is not the centre of the world. Furthermore, respecting different cultural norms isn’t a bad thing - unless ... www.kaa.bz

@kaa as a republican i'd like to see the back of the british monarchy - but in the meantime, in nz our sirs and dames are generally very good and respected people who deserve a title.

@tones I’m no royalist, and definitely skew liberal, however a norm that recognised someone’s contribution to society and doesn’t harm someone else should at the very least be respected. What that line shows is a chip on the shoulder about a norm that you don’t have. Yet America has many other norms of her own creation. You may not agree with them but at least respect that millions of others do appreciate these norms. It’s called being civil.

@kaa I was surprised by that — by the vehemence as much as anything.

@kaa Spot-on. I wonder, does he refer to Queen Elizabeth II as Mrs. Windsor-Mountbatten? :-P If not, he’s specifically being disrespectful to Ive by disputing Ive’s right to have his national title used when he is being mentioned.

And we do have some honorific titles in this country—for instance, every ex-politician gets one, that of their highest former office, no matter how awful or undeserving they were. Our Presidential Medal of Freedom, a similar kind of award as those the UK and Commonwealth nations give for contributions to society, doesn’t come with an honorific, though. Just a fancy medal.

@adders Yep, was thinking this as well when reading the article. And unfortunatly his is now all I remember of the article. It was unexpectetly political this line.