They Call Me Mister Tibbs: Difference between revisions

* Character A assumes too much formality with Character B, [[Don't Call Me "Sir"!|only to be given a gentle alternative]]: "Please. Doctor Von Trapp is my father. Call me Biff." Almost always used to show that Character B is not as bad/scary as he or she initially seemed. (Though if he is a superior, the subordinate may insist on the formal title to show that no, they are not friends.)

 

 

Referring to a third party without appropriate title can also cause a character to be brought up short. Usually this is also a demand for respect, though it can be a friendly warning that the familiarity might cause trouble.

The title quote for this trope makes a strong point about the United States before the civil rights movement altered race relationships. In older movies and TV shows, working class or middle-class black people address most whites with the formal "Mr," "Mrs," or "Miss," even if the person addressed is a child or low-status worker. Most whites would refer to any working class black by their first name (the best-known example being Jack Benny and his butler Rochester) rising to the more formal usages only with middle-class professionals like Virgil Tibbs, a college-educated police detective. The difference between Americans in northern and southern states will primarily be that of emphasis. Indeed, in many southern states, failure to follow the rules of address noted could get a black assaulted on the spot or even murdered by local white vigilantes.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In the English version of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', [[Viewer Gender Confusion|people aren't always sure whether to address Dr. Vellian Crowler as "sir" or "ma'am"]], which causes him to angrily retort that he is "''Dr.'' Crowler, thank you very much" and that he has a "Ph.D. in dueling".

** In the second season the students remembered to call him "doctor", but seeing as he was running the school at the time, he would correct them there too, insisting on "Chancellor".

* Played for laughs at the end of [[Inuyasha]]. {{spoiler|A newly married Kagome refers to [[The Stoic|Sesshoumaru]] as ''nii-san''}}. His reaction (and the identical reaction of [[Inuyasha]]) is priceless. [[Old Retainer|Jakken]] goes into the usual hysterics insisting that she learn some respect and be put in her place... [[Fan Nickname|Lord Fluffy]] just [[Character Development|dismisses it]].

* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', since the [[Clone Jesus|Saint King's clone]] is still the ''[[Crystal Dragon Jesus|Saint King]]'', people sometimes refer to her as "Your Majesty", which really annoys her as she insists that she's just a normal third-grader so they should call her "{{spoiler|Vivio}}". {{spoiler|[[Bifauxnen|Otto]]}} doesn't care and continues calling her that anyway as a form of teasing, causing some fans to start [[Shipping]] them.

** Inverted with Signum, who suggests that she might have to stop referring to Fate as "[[Last-Name Basis|Testarossa]]" and using the informal "[[Japanese Pronouns|omae]]" on her after she becomes Fate's vice captain in Lightning Squad, but Fate notes that it's fine. Most characters tend to address each other normally in the company of their friends and may do so formally when in an official context or to make a point(Nanoha once calls Hayate "Hayate-chan" when talking about her need to help her out as a friend, then switches to "Commander Yagami" when mentioning that she trusts her as a subordinate).

* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', the Yuki Fan Club is fanatic about Yuki being addressed with proper respect.

** In [[Zeta Gundam]], Char Azn- *ahem* [[Paper-Thin Disguise|Lieutenant Quattro]] is fond of reminding people who guess his real identity that he's a Lieutenant, not a Captain.

* "Queen" Leonmitchelli from ''[[Dog Days]]'' gets mad whenever someone calls her a princess.

* In [[One Piece]], when Dalton confronts Wapol, Wapol demands to be addressed as "King Wapol," when Dalton refuses to use honorifics on him.

* In the ''[[Pokémon]]'' anime, Shigeru (Gary) tells Satoshi (Ash) something like this in the first episode. Shigeru, meanwhile, refers to him as Satoshi-chan (Ashy-boy in the dub.)

 

== Comic Books ==

* Similar to the quote at the top of the page, in Issue 16 of ''[[Futurama]] Comics'', Professor Farnsworth insists on being called "Professor" rather than "Mr. Farnsworth", as he "didn't go to Professoring University for 10 years to be called 'Mister'!".

* In issue #74 of the Archie ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comic book, upon seeing that Robotnik is alive and well, Sonic addresses him by name. The villain responds "That's ''Doctor'' Robotnik to you, hedgehog!"

 

== Film ==

* The [[Trope Namer]], ''[[In the Heat of the Night]]''. "They call me ''Mister'' Tibbs!"

* ''[[The Night of the Hunter]]'': "''Preacher'' Harry Powell."

{{quote|'''Beckett:''' You do remember a pirate named...I believe it is "Jack Sparrow"?

'''Elizabeth and Will in unison''': ''Captain'' Jack Sparrow. }}

{{quote|Will: How could I forget Miss Swann?

Elizabeth: Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?

Will: At least once more, as always, Miss Swann. }}

* ''[[Nixon]]'': When the head of the CIA calls him "Dick", Nixon replies with, "My friends call me 'Mister President.'"

* Reversed in ''The American President''. President Andrew Shepherd's Chief of Staff and best friend, A.J., always calls him "Mister President", even when they're alone. At one point, he insists that A.J. can call him "Andy" when they're alone. A.J. responds, "Whatever you say, Mr. President."

* In ''[[The Pink Panther]]'' movies, once Jacques Clouseau is promoted to Chief Inspector, he makes sure to point it out to everyone calling him "Inspector".

* ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' This is not James T. Kirk. "This is ''Captain'' James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise."

** Mr. Chekhov acknowledging orders from Spock, who's the Captain in Pike's absence; "Aye commander, uh..er...Captain. Sorry, ''captain''."

{{quote|Pike: This is Captain Christopher Pike of the Starship ''Enterprise''. To whom am I speaking?

Nero: Hi Christopher. I'm Nero. }}

{{quote|'''Cop''': Your name is ''Mister'' Keyes? What kind of a name is 'Mister'?

'''Keyes''': Yeah, my momma wanted me to get some respect. }}

 

== Literature ==

* A variant bordering on subversion occurs with His Grace His Excellency Commander Sir Samuel Vimes The Duke Of Ankh in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novels. He started out simply as a Captain of the Watch, and was Captain Vimes. Then, he retired, and said, "They call me ''Mister'' Vimes" in a reference to ''In The Heat Of The Night''. That didn't last; though Vimes did mean to retire, in short order he was made a Knight, and Commander of the Watch. Still later, he was made a Duke. He's not fond of "Sir Samuel" or "Your Grace," though...while he ''does'' understand the value of titles, he prefers to use his Watch rank. He's ''Commander'' Vimes, thank you very much.

** He is occasionally "Sir Samuel, if you must," if calling a duke by his job title is giving someone apoplexy.

** ''Mistress'' Weatherwax. She won't let you forget it. Unless you come from her home country of Lancre and/or have known her for a ''really'' long time; then she generally won't object to being called "Granny." Only Nanny Ogg is allowed to call her by her first name, though.

** In [[Horus Heresy]], a non-Astartes human refers to Horus merely as Horus, and is severly rebuked by the Space Marines around her.

{{quote|He is the Warmaster. ''The'' Warmaster. You would do well to remember that.}}

** Pippin (and Merry) also address Denethor, Faramir, Theoden, and other royals/stewards by their common names, since Hobbits don't have the custom of adressing their nobility by title. This leads to the people of Minas Tirith believing that Pippin and Merry are Hobbit royalty.<ref>Pippin ''is'' actually the son of the Thain of the Shire, which is a kind of viceroyalty, and Merry is Pippin's cousin; however, the Thain's sole job is to be military leader (which is meaningless in peacetime), and they aren't treated as royalty and do not govern.</ref>

* In [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s ''The Return of Don Quixote'', Murrel manages to get to talk to Dr. Hendry by asking his daughter whether "Dr. Hendry" was in.

* In James Clavell's [[Shogun]], the protagonist insists on being referred to as ''Anjin-san'' ("Mr. Pilot") instead of just ''Anjin'' as soon as he's learned enough Japanese to understand what ''[[Japanese Honorifics|-san]]'' means.

 

* [[Boston Legal]] had a fun subversion of the common type of this.

{{quote|'''Nora (Alan Shore's secretary)''': Mrs. Schmidt...

'''Thor''': [raises his finger] ''Supreme'' Commander. }}

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]''

** A more specific example: in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy", Kirk keeps calling (the insane) former Captain Garth, "Captain Garth". Garth insists on "Lord Garth".

* In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' the captain almost invariably refers to his officers as "Number One," "Dr. Crusher," "Mr. Data," etc. And Beverly is the only one who can get away with calling him "Jean-Luc" on anything like a regular basis. A deleted scene from ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]'' references this fact, with Riker playing a prank on his replacement and telling him to drop the formal titles with Captain Picard. It gets him a [[Death Glare]].

** And then there's this exchange between Toby and the British Ambassador:

{{quote|'''Toby:''' "I think we have to be careful how we use the word terrorist. Can I call you John?"

** Marbury actually gets ''two''. From his introductory episode:

{{quote|'''Leo:''' Sir.

* The second variant is parodied in a promo for ''[[The Sarah Silverman Program]]'': An elementary school class greets Sarah as 'Mrs. Silverman', to which she responds, "Mrs. Silverman was my mother. She was a bitch."

* [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|The 2003 ''Battlestar Galactica'' miniseries]] did this with Laura Roslin, former Secretary of Education and new President. Calling her "Madame President" was shown as the barometer of how the specific character felt about her - i.e. Billy, as her personal aide, using the term right off the bat; and Baltar using it in a politically calculated tone, only after she offers him a position as her adviser. Contrasting with those uses is Colonel Tigh, who repeatedly refers to her as "that woman," and Commander Adama, who calls her everything from "Miss Roslin" to her face to "that schoolteacher" behind her back. It is only after he realizes that she's right - they lost - and after she keeps the secret that he really ''doesn't'' know where Earth is that he addresses her deliberately as "Madame President".

*** Not necessarily; that's a trait of modern American politics ([[We All Live in America|and some other countries]]; I'd get more specific, but I [[Did Not Do the Research]]). It might be her inexperience with such matters, but in dealing with Adama she arranges for him to handle certain concerns, herself to handle others, and (later) still other concerns to be tandem efforts of the military and civilian government. Her power over the military may be exclusive to deployment; that is to say, as soon as she authorizes military force, she steps back and lets the them handle it. Zarek claims Adama doesn't have such power, but as a longtime jailed revolutionary he may not be correct; the Colonies were only unified with the Cylon war, meaning the Colonial Military is the oldest, most visible and likely one of the strongest aspects of the Colonial System.

** Also, at one point Baltar gets angry about being called "Doc",<ref>"a dock is a platform for loading or unloading"</ref> and says that he should be addressed as "Doctor" or "Mr. Vice President".

{{quote|'''Earl''': Excuse me, Mr. Covington-

'''Mr. Covington''': Mr. Covington was my father's name. You can call me "sir". }}

* On ''[[Numb3rs]]'', strict college dean Dr. Mildred Finch insists on being called Millie. Played for irony, since at the same time as she stresses this informality, she's coming down hard on her subordinates in other areas.

* Andrew Hartford deals with this in ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'' (and he's not helped by [[Cloudcuckoolander]] Dax):

'''Dax:''' Got it. You want us to think of you as someone young.

'''Hartford:''' Ouch! }}

'''Angus''': Aye, I'll do my best, Seargent.

'''Officer''': Detective Inspector! }}

{{quote|""Tom Hanks"": Thanks a lot, Mr. Martin.

""Steve Martin"": Please, call me Mr. STEVE Martin. }}

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':

* ''[[Degrassi]]'': "It's Holly freakin' J."

* In the ''[[Lost]]'' episode "Dr. Linus," the flash-sideways version of Ben is a history teacher with a PhD. Whenever a character calls him "Mr. Linus," he grumbles, "It's ''Dr.'' Linus, actually." Sideways Alex seems to be the only one who addresses him properly.

* One of the many, many [[Running Gags]] that occurs in the Mexican sitcom ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]'', usually with El Chavo referring to Profesor Jirafales<ref>In Spanish, it's spelled with one s.</ref> as "Maestro Longaniza" ("longaniza" is a kind of sausage).

{{quote|'''Prof. Jirafales''': "I'm not a maestro, and my name isn't Longaniza! I'm a longaniza and my name is Maestro...I mean, I'm a maestro, and my name is Jirafales!"}}

 

== Music ==

{{quote|"And my name's not 'baby'! It's Janet, Ms. Jackson if you're nasty!"}}

* [[The World/Inferno Friendship Society]]'s song "Ich Erinnere Mich An Die Weimarer Republik":

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* ''[[Candorville]]'' gives us {{spoiler|both instances of}} this trope [http://candorville.com/2007/02/08/jive-4/ here].

 

* ''[[Spitting Image]]''

{{quote|'''Iain Paisley''': That's ''Reverend'' Paisley to you, Lord!}}

 

== Radio ==

* '''Bloodnok''': [[The Goon Show|That's ''Mister'' Scum to you]]!

* In the ''[[Front Line Theatre]]'' play "Ham For Sale", while [[Jack Benny]] is obnoxiously intruding upon the rehearsal of a dramatic play with [[Basil Rathbone]] and [[Barbara Stanwyck]]:

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

== Theatre ==

* Act II, Scene II of ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' plays with this trope as it was used in Elizabethan England. Launcelot, a peasant who's been away from home for some time, runs into his father, Gobbo, who's been looking for him. However, Gobbo is blind and doesn't recognize his son, so Launcelot, being the play's [[Plucky Comic Relief]], decides to mess with him...

** First, Launcelot, pretending not to be himself, asks him if he's talking about "young Master Launcelot." Since "Master" was a title of address reserved for the higher classes, Gobbo insists that his child is "no master, sir, but a poor man's son." (However, he ''does'' unintentionally call his son "Master", having no idea who he's speaking to.)

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* After winning the TNA X Division championship, Doug Williams stoped answering by the more friendly Doug, and demanded to be called Douglas Williams.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'''s version of Mr. Famous would always insist "Just Famous!" whenever Lan called him "Mr. Famous." The exchange in ''Rockman.EXE'' was "Meijin-san!", "-san wa iranai," (literally, "No need for -san").

* In ''Warhammer: Dark Omen'' Commander Bernhardt prefers to go by "Commander". The only guy who doesen't is the Witch-Hunter, Matthias. (Who usually calls him either "Bernhardt" or "You there!") who in turn wants to be called by "My proper-title of Witch-Hunter General". Matthias eventually forgets himself and Bernhardt notes it. ("Ah. You called me Commander.")

* In the German version of ''[[StarCraft II]]'', Matt usually addresses Raynor with the formal "Sie", but when it's only the two of them in the Cantina (like in the cinematics "Hearts and Minds" and "Who we choose to be") he switches to the more familiar "Du".

* Inverted in [[Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica]]. Cloche is painfully aware of her title and this is precisely why she doesn't want her closest friends using it. Everyone else, though, has to call her 'Lady' or 'Holy Maiden'.

 

== Web Comics ==

{{quote|Katie: Nice to meet you, Mr. Wolf.

* In the backstory of ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', Renard changed his name to Reynardine upon severing ties with Gillitie Wood. Several people continue to call him Renard: Coyote uses the old name because he still hopes that he can persuade Rey to return to the Wood (and because he never calls ''anyone'' by their proper name), while many in the Court seem to use it because they still see Rey as an outsider. Interestingly, the people who probably like Rey the least—the Donlans and James Eglamore—nevertheless call him by his current name most of the time, probably by virtue of having interacted with him on a regular basis.

** Annie switched to calling him "Renard" after she discovered how he became "Reynardine".

* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130609075128/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter001/ib003.html Caspian, a merchant's son, is called "lord".]

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209184430/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3336 No one has ever called me "Ms. Fuschia". . . .He called me "Ms. Fuschia"]

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* The second variant is played for humor in ''[[Finding Nemo]]''. Not knowing the sea turtle's name, Marlin calls him "mister turtle". As it turns out, [[Species Surname|"Turtle"]]''[[Species Surname|is]]''[[Species Surname|his surname]] - "Dude, Mr. Turtle is my ''father''. Name's Crush."

* A Pimp Named Slickback in ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is possibly the weirdest example of this. You can't just call him Slickback, a Pimp, or even [[Rule of Funny|"this person"]] apparently, it's like A Tribe Called Quest: you have to say the whole thing, [[Overly Long Gag|all the fucking time.]]

'''Pumbaa:''' Are you talking to ''me''?!

'''Timon:''' You shouldn't have done that.

'''Timon:''' Now, they're in for it.

** And from earlier in the movie:

{{quote|'''Simba:''' Look, Banana-Beak is scared.

'''Zazu:''' That's ''Mister'' Banana-Beak to you, fuzzy! }}

* From ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', after Jafar makes himself sultan:

{{quote|'''Sultan:''' You vile betrayer!

'''Patrick''': ''Doctor'' Professor Patrick.

'''Patrick''': ''Mister'' Doctor Professor Patrick, for '''you'''. }}

* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' has Shendu's brother, Tchang Zu insisting Shendu to call him "master" rather than "brother".

{{quote|'''Shendu''': As the thunder claps, so do I applaud your skill, brother.

{{quote|'''Woody:''' Wait a minute, you--you don't think I meant to knock Buzz out the window, do you, Potato Head?

'''Mr. Potato Head:''' That's ''Mister'' Potato Head to you, you back-stabbin' murderer! }}

* From the ''[[Histeria!]]'' episode "Loud Kiddington's Ancient History":

{{quote|'''[[Brainless Beauty|Miss Information]]''': And to our right is the great Carthaginian general Hannibal.

* ''[[My Dad the Rock Star]]'': When Skunk first approached Buzz Sawchuck, he asked "Mr. Sawchuck?" and Buzz replied that was his father.

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'': When Candace got a job as a lifeguard, she first addressed her boss as "Mr. Webber" and he said that Mr. Webber was his father and he was to be called "''Captain'' Webber".

 

== Real Life ==

* To the Amish, titles are seen as a sign of vanity, a major taboo in the Amish community. Thus, people are often addressed by their ''full'' names.

* Every sergeant ''ever'' who deals with new meat has used that line or a variation, or occasionally, when called 'sir', 'Don't call me "sir"; I work for a living!' While any member of the US Army with the rank of Sergeant or higher, such as Master Sergeant, may be addressed by a soldier as "Sergeant", woe betide any [[Semper Fi|Marine]] who calls ANY Sergeant other than an actual E-5 "Sergeant". On the other hand, Gunnery Sergeants are often called "Gunny" by those 'deemed worthy', and Master Gunnery Sergeants are likewise called "Master Guns".

* BDSM communities have conventions for address that can differ between regions, and is usually far more formal in online communities than at [[Real Life]] leather events. Addressing someone as 'Sir/Miss' can be an acknowledgment of their role and experience, an identifier of the speaker's submission, or simply a term of respect between peers. The titles 'Master/Mistress' refers to those with a more or less 24/7 power exchange relationship, ie, training a full-time submissive or slave. Many newbies to the scene mistakenly spread the term around, which may endear them to some Old School Dom(me)s, but usually is a source of amusement when applied to submissives and switches.

* German-speaking countries tend to be very serious about using the formal 'you' in conversation, to the point of it being a major milestone in a friendship when you know someone well enough to use the informal version with them. People who are next-door neighbors for twenty years will still often refer to each other as Herr and Frau so-and-so. Even married couples would refer to each other as "Herr X" and "Frau X" in front of others. German shops and other businesses do nowadays make a concession to Anglophone-style customer care: their employees do usually have name badges. However, as a rule, their name badges will always say include "Herr" or "Frau".

* In Sweden up until either 1875, everyone was supposed to use ''Ni'' (you in the sense it had before thou fell out of use) instead of titles, or the late '60s/early '70s, when people switched to ''Du'' (you in the familiar sense) and titles actually fell out of use, excepting a few special situations.

* In 2009, while testifying on the Louisiana coastal restoration process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Brigadier General Michael Walsh referred to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer as "Ma'am" when replying to one of her questions. This is proper military protocol, a respectful term usually reserved for one's superiors, and the typical address used from a military officer to a U.S. Congress person. The Senator interrupted his reply with the following: "Do me a favor, can you call me 'senator' instead of 'ma'am'? It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you." The General's immediate reply was still "Yes, ma'am," but he corrected himself after that.

* Martial Arts dojos often insist on students referring to each other as "Mr. so-and-so" to foster respect among the students. In Japanese styles, [[Japanese Honorifics|honorifics]] are used - albeit inconsistently outside of Japan.

{{quote|'''Brent:''' (as [[Patrick Stewart|Stewart]]) My friends call me Patrick. You may call me Mr. Stewart. In fact, you may call me ''SIR'' Mr. Stewart.}}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDIBchVxSmE William Shatner's salute to George Lucas]:

* Brazilians of humble origins often call any richer or more educated person "doctor" as a term of respect.

* Coach Bob Knight, already infamous for his bad temper, was finally fired from his position after physically attacking a student who cheerfully greeted him by saying "Hey, Knight, what's up?", without the prefix of "Coach" or "Mr."

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Language Tropes]]