Language usage: oblique reference

In the English language, there is a particular style of referring to oneself in the third person (e.g., “Come and let Aunty take a look at you”), when speaking to the younger generation, especially young children.  

It is done in Chinese too, but more commonly by the younger generation when addressing seniors (in status/age), as it’s a bit too direct even to use nín 您 (respectful “you”), never mind the plain form nǐ 你 (“you”).  

So, when enquiring after the teacher’s health, one could say, 

老师，您好吗
lǎoshī, nín hǎo ma
 “teacher [respectful form]you good question-particle” 
= Are you well, Teacher? (“Teacher” being the title here)

But one also says, just using lǎoshī (“teacher”) to take the place of nín (respectful “you”): 

老师好吗
lǎoshī hǎo ma
“teacher good question-particle” 
= Is Teacher well?

My ex-tutor at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), Mr T’ung Ping-cheng 佟秉正, got home from work one day and found that he’d forgotten his house key, so he rang the bell.  

His son asked, in English, from the other side of the door, “Who is it?”  

Mr T’ung answered, “我 (wǒ, I/me).”  

His son opened the door and instead of saying, “爸爸好 bàba hǎo / Hello, Father”, he said, “我好 wǒ hǎo / Hello, me.”


Note: The standard, common way of greeting people is “nǐ hǎo (‘you good’)”, which works for all levels of formality and status of the other party, from “How do you do” to “Hello” to “Hi”.