History Main / TheyCallMeMisterTibbs

* In the educational setting, most teachers and administrators (and to a lesser extent, support staff) expect their students to address them by a courtesy title – Mr., Mrs. or Miss; Coach, if they are a coach; an administrative title, such as Principal or Superintendent; or Dr. if they have a Ph.D – and their surname, especially in the classroom, or short of that, "sir" or "ma'am." Sometimes, teachers with particularly long or difficult-to-pronounce last names will allow them to refer to them by a shortened last name along with the courtesy title (e.g., "Mrs. K" for Mrs. Crabapple). Usually, they will correct a student who errantly refers to them by their given name, although rare exceptions are allowed for close family – that is, it would be silly for a teacher or principal to expect his son to address him "Mr." at school. The point, however, is for the students to show respect and to remind students that it is the adults, not the students, who are in charge.

* In the educational setting, most teachers and students expect their students to address them by a courtesy title – Mr., Mrs. or Miss; Coach, if they are a coach; an administrative title, such as Principal or Superintendent; or Dr. if they have a Ph.D – and their surname, especially in the classroom. Sometimes, teachers with particularly long or difficult-to-pronounce last names will allow them to refer to them by a shortened last name along with the courtesy title (e.g., "Mrs. K" for Mrs. Crabapple). Usually, they will correct a student who errantly refers to them by their given name, although rare exceptions are allowed for close family – that is, it would be silly for a teacher or principal to expect his son to address him "Mr." at school.

** In business relationships, where the customer service representative was speaking with a client they did not otherwise have an established relationship with (previous or personal), they might be expected to call them "Mr." or "Mrs.," or short of that, sir or ma'am.

* ''WelcomeBackKotter: The Season 2 episode, "Sweathog, Nebraska Style," saw Gabe's teenaged sister-in-law, Jenny, stay with the Kotters, and she temporarily joins the Sweathogs. In class, Jenny is being obnoxious and calls Gabe by his first name when he tries to call the class to attention. He immediately reprimands her: "In class, I am Mr. Kotter." Nothing more is said of it.

* US President JimmyCarter refused to be called anything but "Jimmy," to the point where he used it in his Oath of Office.

->''Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalties as ‘empty,’ ‘meaningless,’ or ‘dishonest,’ and scorn to use them. No matter how pure their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.''

* ''BlackLagoon'' has Eda going off on the Church of Violence's new apprentice Rico for calling her "Sis" during a gunfight:

** The episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesJokersFavor "Joker's Favor"]]: When Batman meets Charlie Collins, he is a pathetic victim of TheJoker who is HoldingOutForAHero and could have helped TheJoker to kill a lot of people. When Batman meets him again at the alley, Batman calls him ''Charlie''. After Charlie confronts the Joker and pranks him with a bomb, Batman addresses him as ''Mr. Collins''.

** [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesJokersFavor The episode ''Joker's Favor'']]: When Batman meets Charlie Collins, he is a pathetic victim of TheJoker who is HoldingOutForAHero and could have helped TheJoker to kill a lot of people. When Batman meets him again at the alley, Batman calls him ''Charlie''. After Charlie confronts the Joker and pranks him with a bomb, Batman addresses him as ''Mr. Collins''.

[[TropeCodifier Trope is named]] for Creator/SidneyPoitier's famous line from ''InTheHeatOfTheNight'', where an educated black detective, Virgil Tibbs, is in a bigoted part of the South, and ends up tied up in a murder case; early on, he is asked what people call him where he comes from.

* ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' does this for comedy. When [[TheMole Shelton]] intercepts a thought message by Achilles to Narcissus, he replies as such.

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2318355/1/Make-A-Wish Make a Wish]]'' a shopkeeper with a touch of seer ability gave Harry a passport bearing the alias "Padamus Da Grim Nomed Black." After an awkward encounter with a customs agent in the Netherlands, anyone who asked for his name was told simply "Black." Requests for a first name were met with "Mister."

* {{Gintama}}: "Zura janai, Katsura da!".

** Pippin (and Merry) also address Denethor, Faramir, Théoden, 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.[[note]]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. Merry is also the son of the Master of Buckland. After the events of the novel, Aragorn renews the viceroyalty powers of the Thain and extends them also to the Master of Buckland and the Mayor of Hobbiton. All three positions are eventually filled by members of the Fellowship (Pippin, Merry, and Sam respectively).[[/note]]

--> Me: Excuse me? Mr. MacKenzie?
--> Priest: Please, Mr. MacKenzie is my father. Call me Father MacKenzie.

* LangstonHughes wrote a series of poems about a woman named Alberta K Johnson who insisted on being called Madam. Most of the poems are even titled Madam and blank.

* ''{{Discworld}}'':

** ''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 [[TrueCompanions Nanny Ogg]] and [[TheNotLoveInterest Archchancellor Ridcully]] are allowed to call her by her first name, though, as they're the only two for whom she holds more than passing acquaintance. In the short story "The Sea and Little Fishes", Mrs Earwig commits the unpardonable sin of calling her "Miss Weatherwax".

* The TropeNamer, ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight''. "They call me ''Mister'' Tibbs!"