Capital 'S' or small 'S'?

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please tell me if the red S and M should be capital or small? Are the commas really required?

1- I am here, sir!
2- How are you, madam?

Tom

[DOlier]

They should both be capital, and
the commas are necessary.

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

I would only use capital s for sir when linked to a particular name. The same applies to m for madam. In generality as a mode of address the lower case is acceptable.

Alan
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[Jamie (K)]

Be careful with madam when talking to Americans, because some less educated Americans think that if you call them madam that you're saying they're a madame (a woman who runs a house of prostitution). You're better off calling women here ma'am.

Some people I know have been yelled at by women who think that ma'am and madam are for old women. They're not, but some people think they are, so you can't win no matter what you call people.

[Tom]

[Torsten]

Hi Tom,

Here is an example for the "Sir context":

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles.

As so often, Wikipedia and Google are excellent friends...
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