I told all my classes never to call me "sir." I tried to build the relationship on politeness and a friendly demeanour all round. We can reserve "sir" for knights of the realm and for use by policemen booking me for speeding when they ask me the Great Unanswerable Question, "Didn't you see the speed limit sign back there, sir?"

Calling politicians names and lampooning them is all par for the course. 'Twas ever thus. In fact, it's a healthy sign that we live in a democracy and not a dictatorship, in which "disrespecting" leaders could cost you your head. It is not the same on this forum as we are addressing each other, not third parties who aren't listening. There has been a very persistent trend for two members here to call Jim "Jom" or "Carroll" and me "Shaw." Yes plenty of us are guilty of indulging in similar practices at times, it can't be gainsaid. However, the Shaw, Jom And Carroll are hostile attempts at talking down by two people who are singularly unqualified to talk down to anyone. I remember way back in the seventies when the school at which I taught got a new headmaster. He thought he could swan in and address the staff by their surnames only. He soon discovered that he couldn't, because we adopted a strict policy among ourselves of not recognising that he was addressing us at all until he decided to become a little more polite. That learned him.