The "What's this word/phrase?" thread

Tobberoth Wrote:What? This is the first time ever I've heard ちち called more formal than とうさん. After all, chichi is just the kanji, 父. とうさん is the same, but with a honorary suffix. おとうさん adds the honorary prefix. I can't imagine how 父 could possibly be more formal than 御父さん.

(Of course, you're the native speaker so I'm not calling you wrong or anything. I'm just extremely surprised.)

Also, let's not forget おやじ which is a very informal word used for your own father, often used by teens, the female version (of mother that is) being おふくろ.

Native speakers can be wrong. My understanding is that 父 is not a very formal word, but お父さん and 父さん sound more friendly so they are often used in more informal situations. For example, my boss can ask me "君のお父さんは何をしているのかね？" but I'd reply "私の父は公務員です。" My boss can use 君の父親, 君の父 or 君のお父さん. But I don't use お父さん or 父さん when talking with my boss. Also, kids use お父さん more often than adults. Actually no one would use 父 when they find a little kid walking alone and ask "Where is your dad?" Most likely they say "お父さんはどこにいるの？", "パパはどこにいるのかな？" etc.

Here's the definition of お父さん in 大辞泉 published by 小学館:

1: 子供が自分の父親を呼ぶ語。また、子供をもつ男性を親しんで呼ぶ語。「おかあさん」とともに明治３７年から使用した文部省「尋常小学読本」（国定教科書）に採用されてから、「おとっさん」に代わって普及した。
2: 芸妓・女郎が、置屋や茶屋の男主人を敬って呼ぶ語。

Meaning 2 isn't important to learners unless you're interested in those cultures, I guess.

Edit: Technically お父さん can be considered 尊敬語. But the sense of respect is weaker than other honorifics such as 尊父, お父様, 厳父 etc. I also found a blog where a curmudgeon is complaining that these days people don't use お父さん as a honorific.