question: I've noticed in UK TV military/politicians refer to their superiors as Mom when she's a woman. Is this an actual practice?
comment: Oh my this gave me a giggle, and I’m sorry for that. British service folks tend to call their female superiors “Ma’am”, which certainly can sound like “Mom” but I’m sorry to say is not quite the same thing. Thanks for the great reminder that accents can make a big difference across the same language!
passages: In 1986, when the NRA captured power, Nalweyiso was given the rank of captain and appointed the commandant of the 800-member women's wing in the army, at that time. She steadily rose through the ranks and by 2000 was at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
  
  For over a decade prior to her promotion to Major General, she had worked at the Uganda State House as an aide and military adviser to the president of Uganda.
   In the British Armed Forces, the term "batman" or "batwoman" was formerly also applied to a civilian who cleaned officers' messes or married quarters. In the Royal Air Force, free married quarters cleaning services were phased out for all officers except squadron leaders or above in command appointments as of 1 April 1972.
   The wives of the unit's Alpha Team personnel are given minimal mission or operational information. They are responsible for maintaining the "303rd Logistical Studies Group" cover in all interactions with anyone who is not a unit family member. Their husbands are, in fact, still performing highly dangerous missions, but they are not permitted to know specifics, such as where their husbands are deployed, of what their training routines consist, how long their assignments will last, or even if their husbands are safe.
   Grocki retired in October 2016, at which point she was the senior EDO in the Navy Reserve. She played a key role in the creation of the breast insignia for the EDO role which was authorised for wear in January 2018.
   BULLET::::- Proscovia Nalweyiso became the first female Major-General in the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF); this also made her the first woman soldier to hold such a rank in East Africa.
  
  BULLET::::- Nibal Madhat Badr became the first woman to assume the rank of Brigadier General in the Syrian Armed Forces.
  
  BULLET::::- Norway announced its first-ever appointment of a woman (Tonje Skinnarland) to head its air force.
   For women, it is current practice to use the masculine form of the title, preferring, for instance, "Doamnă Director" instead of "Doamnă Directoare". Note that some titles may lose their intended meaning when used in their feminine form. For instance, "Profesor"/"Profesoară" are titles which may be associated with a male/female school teacher. When used to mean a university professor ("profesor universitar"), however, only the masculine form carries this meaning. The feminine "profesoară universitară" is not in common use.
  
  Examples for use of titles:
   Drill sergeants are typically addressed as "drill sergeant" regardless of rank, though use of this term depends on post policy. When serving a tour as drill sergeant this is indicated by the traditional campaign hat. In late 1971, Headquarters, Continental Army Command (CONARC) received approval from the Chief of Staff of the Army for permission to include women in the Drill Sergeant Program. In February 1972, six Woman Army Corps (WAC) noncommissioned officers from Fort McClellan, Alabama, were enrolled in the Drill Sergeant Program, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Upon graduation, the women were authorized to wear the female drill sergeant campaign hat. Today, women drill sergeants are also referred to as "drill sergeant", regardless of their rank. Both men and women drill sergeants will always wear the drill sergeant badge indicating they completed the required training program at an authorized drill sergeant academy. The army drill sergeant badge appears on the right breast pocket.
   BULLET::::- The Israel Defense Forces decided to allow female kosher supervisors to work in its kitchens on military bases.
  
  BULLET::::- The Israel Defense Forces announced the appointment of Or Cohen as their first female Navy captain.
  
  BULLET::::- Sri Lanka's military admitted its soldiers had abused and tortured women recruits.
  
  BULLET::::- Myanmar's military appointed its first women representatives to parliament; the two, Lieutenant-Colonel Soe Soe Myint and Lieutenant-Colonel San Thida, were sworn into the lower house of parliament in 2014.
  
  BULLET::::- Antonette Wemyss-Gorman became the first female commanding officer in the Jamaica Defence Force's Coast Guard.
   The ongoing feminist movement acknowledges language as a “powerful instrument of patriarchy”. The goals set for linguistic reform aim to achieve linguistic equality of the sexes. A study of Australian newspapers from 1992 and 1996 found that the word “chairman” was used to describe all people holding the position, including women. This is an example of a linguistic issue that feminists seek to reform. Occupational nomenclature reflects gender bias when “professional nomenclature used in employment-related contexts displays bias in favour of men leading to women's invisibility in this area.” The invisibility of women is a linguistic feminist issue because when encountering sentences predominantly using male pronouns, listeners are more likely to think of men before women and therefore women get overlooked. Positions are gendered to be male and the “continuing, frequent use reflects the fact that far more men than women continue to occupy this position.” This study further investigated and found instances of female professionals being specified as women while men would just be titled with the profession itself, for example “female judge,” “woman engineer,” and “woman politician.”
   BULLET::::- The U.S. Labor Department began a website focused on women military veterans.
  
  BULLET::::- Sgt. Maj. Angela M. Maness took the reins of the "Oldest Post of the [U.S. Marine] Corps" as the new sergeant major of Marine Barracks Washington. She is the first woman in history to hold this billet at the Barracks.
  
  BULLET::::- Kristin K. French was appointed as the first female commanding general at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.
   BULLET::::- Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first woman to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
  
  BULLET::::- For the first time, all-women contingents of air force, army, and navy personnel marched in India's Republic Day parade.
  
  BULLET::::- Danielle Welch, the first woman to become a Royal Navy "ab-initio" Lynx helicopter pilot ("ab-initio" meaning she trained from start to finish on the same aircraft) received her wings from Prince Andrew.
  
  BULLET::::- The Botswana Defence Force recruited its first female privates.
   Elizabeth Cocker took the name Phelan from her Irish grandmother and uses it for her professional work. Her great-grandfather was William Phelan, who was a member of the Irish Citizen Army. She did a postgraduate study in journalism.
  
  Section::::Career.
   BULLET::::- Käthe Dorsch as Else Hardt, geb Wolf
  
  BULLET::::- Hanna Ralph as Frau Derstner
  
  BULLET::::- Erika Glässner as Margit, deren Nichte
  
  BULLET::::- Carl Auen as Kurt Wolf - ihr Bruder
  
  BULLET::::- Harry Liedtke as Dr. Hellbrandt
  
  BULLET::::- Hermann Thimig as Alfred Weng - Hellbrandts Freund
  
  BULLET::::- Ellen Blondys as Edith Kramer
  
  BULLET::::- Margarete Kupfer as Frau Klumberger - Hebamme
  
  BULLET::::- Artur Ranzenhofer as Dr. Heller - Assistant im Spital Dr. Ungers
  
  BULLET::::- Anny Ranzenhofer as arme Mutter
  
  Section::::Bibliography.
  
  BULLET::::- Kreimeier, Klaus. "The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945". University of California Press, 1999.
   Words that formerly referred solely to a dignitary's wife ("l'ambassadrice") are now used to refer to a woman holding the same dignitary position. Although marriage titles have mainly dropped out of use, many cite the possible confusion as a reason for continuing to use those such as "Madame le Président" or "Madame l'ambassadeur". For this reason, the traditional use remains the most frequent in France. Nonetheless, in France, the husband of a female ambassador would never be known as "Monsieur l'ambassadrice". Instead, he would be called literally "the ambassador's husband", "le mari de l'ambassadeur". The title "mademoiselle" has been rejected in public writing by the French government in December 2012, in favour of "madame" for all adult women, without respect to civil status.
   BULLET::::- The U.S. Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) is issued a new charter narrowing its focus to issues pertaining to military families, recruitment, readiness and retention. A retired Marine three-star general is appointed chairman of the new, downsized advisory committee.
  
  BULLET::::- For the first time in its history, the U.S. Army National Guard promotes an African-American woman to the rank of brigadier general.
   BULLET::::- Lisa Hunn became the first woman to assume command of a New Zealand Navy frigate (the frigate HMNZS Te Mana).
  
  BULLET::::- Lorna Gray was appointed as the first female commanding officer of an RNZN offshore patrol vessel (HMNZS Otago).
  
  BULLET::::- Catherine Bowa became the first female aircraft engineer in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
  
  BULLET::::- The appointment of Captain (Navy) Geneviève Bernatchez as the fifteenth (and first female) Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Canadian Forces was announced.
   Former military officers are sometimes addressed by their last military rank, such as "Captain", "Colonel", "General", etc. This is generally only adopted by those officers who served in at least the rank equivalent of Major.
  
  Section::::Honorifics in other languages and cultures.
  
  Section::::Honorifics in other languages and cultures.:Africa.
  
  In areas of East Africa, where the Bantu language Swahili is spoken, "mzee" is frequently used for an elder to denote respect by younger speakers. It is used in direct conversation and used in referring to someone in the third person.
   BULLET::::- Gan Siow Huang became the first female general officer in the Singapore Armed Forces with her promotion to Brigadier-General.
  
  BULLET::::- The defence secretary stated that for the first time in British Army history a woman was in command of an operational brigade; specifically, Brigadier Sharon Nesmith was in command of the 1st United Kingdom Signal Brigade.
  
  BULLET::::- Carla Higgins was appointed the first female commanding officer of the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, which is in Britain.
  
  BULLET::::- The British Army appointed Susan Ridge as its first female general. Now-Major General Susan Ridge is Director General Army Legal Services.
   BULLET::::- Deann Davis became the first female ship rider from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) to accompany a ship with the U.S. Coast Guard.
  
  BULLET::::- Pakistan's first group of female paratroopers completed their training. Captain Kiran Ashraf was declared the best paratrooper of the batch of 24, the military said in a statement, while Captain Sadia, referred to by one name, became the first female officer in the Pakistan military to jump from a MI-17 helicopter.
   In Singapore, the President appoints "aides-de-camp" from the armed services as well as officers selected from the police force and civil defence force. These officers usually hold the rank of major or military expert 5 in the armed services or major in the Singapore civil defence force, whereas an assistant superintendent of police is chosen from the Singapore police force. Both male and female officers may serve as "aides-de-camp".
  
  Their duties include assisting in liaison for important guests on behalf of the president and taking care of visiting foreign dignitaries.
  
  Section::::Commonwealth of Nations countries.:Sri Lanka.
   Both the governor-general and their spouse are entitled to the style "His/Her Excellency" during the governor-general's term of office, but not thereafter. The governor-general is entitled to the style "The Honourable" for life; this does not extend to the spouse.
  
  Except for Dame Quentin Bryce, all Australian governors-general have been male, and all spouses but her husband Michael Bryce have been female.
   For this reason, use of the "masculine" occupation terms when referring to women, is in fact seen as more politically correct and constitutes a growing trend. The actual gender of the person can still be indicated through the verb: for example, in the phrase врач посоветовала ("vrač posovétovala", the doctor/m advised/f), the gender of the verb shows that the doctor was female, even as the masculine (more respectful) occupation term is used. Note, however, that there are also some grammatically feminine terms with positive connotations that are routinely used for both men and women, for example, знаменитость ("znamenítost", celebrity, feminine because it is an abstract noun).
   In her autobiography, Stanford wrote: "Madaming is the sort of thing that happens to you—like getting a battlefield commission or becoming the dean of women at Stanford University."
   In 1995 women of all races were being incorporated into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and a woman officer, Brigadier Jackie Sedibe, was appointed to oversee the implementation of new SANDF policies concerning the treatment of women. Women had been promoted as high as warrant officers and brigadiers in the Permanent Force by the early 1990s, but only ten women were SADF colonels in 1994. In 1996 Brigadier Sedibe became the first woman in the military to be promoted to the rank of major general. Widespread cultural attitudes in the 1990s still oppose the idea of women in combat, but officials are debating ways to assign women an equitable share of the leadership positions in the military. In 2011 almost 26.6% of the uniformed services of the South African National Defence Force consisted of women.
   BULLET::::- The first female Marine graduated from the Corps’ Winter Mountain Leaders Course; her name was Tara-Lyn Baker.
  
  BULLET::::- For the first time in Georgia Air National Guard history, the 116th Air Control Wing promoted a woman within the maintenance career field to the rank of chief master sergeant; her name was Jaimie Banks.
  
  BULLET::::- Shannon Kent became the first female Navy service member to be killed in the fight against ISIS that began in 2014.
  
  BULLET::::- The Oklahoma Army National Guard acquired its first female general, Brig. Gen. Cynthia Tinkham.
  
presuppositions: UK politicians call female superiors mom. In British TV, military leaders and politicians refer to their female superiors as their Mom.
corrections: They are actually saying ma'am. In British TV, military leaders and politicians refer to their female superiors as Ma'am, but accented.
raw_presuppositions: UK politicians call female superiors mom. In British TV, military leaders and politicians refer to their female superiors as their Mom.
raw_corrections: They are actually saying ma'am. In British TV, military leaders and politicians refer to their female superiors as Ma'am, but accented.