yes what? yes ma'am

[lauradi7dw]

In my Southern childhood it was presumed that a younger person would add "ma'am" or "sir" out of politeness in some contexts. If the elder asked you a question, just answering yes or no would be considered rude, for example. My parents weren't strict about it, but I had teachers who were adamant, and would pointedly say "Yes what?" if one just said "yes," for example. I'm watching the Kdrama "Our Blues" (2022) that has an enormous ensemble cast. In episode 16 a kid says something to her grandmother. Her grandmother repeats it back, in a stern tone, and the kid changes it to the honorific form. I know that people are supposed to use honorifics to old people, but the three-line exchange hit me as exactly like the yes yes what yes ma'am sequence.

If you ever need to know, you can use ma'am or sir that way instead of saying "what."
Like "Laura!' "Ma'am?' My mother's been gone almost four years. I'm not sure I've done that since she died.