Questions tagged [hailnames]
Also known as colloquial vocatives or faux intimates, ʜᴀɪʟɴᴀᴍᴇꜱ are terms of direct address used in casual situations as a substitute for “you” or for the formal “sir” or “ma’am”, like when you say “Hey dude” instead of “Hey you”.
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Among younger speakers, is 'bro' now gender-neutral?
I often hear 'bro' being used in a gender-neutral manner among younger speakers (mainly teenagers), and I'm wondering about the specifics of this trend. (Or at least it seems like a trend to me.)
Here ...
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What are the origins of and is this use of the term "baby" sexist?
I heard this expression twice now this week on current TV. That 90's Show on Netflix (a preview) and NCIS: Hawaii. I don't remember the exact wording but they went something like this:
From That 90'...
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Is it considered rude or inappropriate to frequently address others as "friend" - often in a disingenuous fashion?
Recently, I have encountered (what I think is) a fairly common usage of the word "friend" that I consider to be insincere and offensive, but when I brought this up with the offending party, ...
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"you're alright, mate?" to a stranger. American equivalent for "mate"
I saw a youtube video of a guy standing at a street corner doing exercises for his social anxiety in London. Saying something like "How are you doing? You're alright, mate?" to a passing by ...
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In North America, is it normal to address children you don't know as "honey"?
From Now vaccinated, third grader who asked Joe Biden a question at town hall gets to visit the White House:
Biden responded directly to Layla [who is 9 years old, as given in the article], ...
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feminine colloquialisms to connote platonic endearment: [duplicate]
It seems as though in the U.S./in English we have a million words to connote endearment to men(albeit in a somewhat strange way) that are used with varying degrees of gender neutrality. But I'm ...
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Word for a moniker that you use to address friends [duplicate]
What is the word for the words we use to address a person or people to whom we stand in a particular relationship.
For example I usually address my friends as "boss". I greet them with "...
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Addressing a person by occupation
In Dorothy Gladys “Dodie” Smith’s 1956 children’s novel, The Hundred and One
Dalmatians,
the author writes:
But though you can call a cook ‘Cook’, the one thing you cannot call a butler is ‘Butler’
...
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On the capitalization of familial honorifics
We all know that Mom and Dad are capitalized when used in dialogue as a substitute for a name.
But is it the same for big sister, big brother, big sis, and big bro?
One example of the sentence would ...
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Why do guys call each other “man”? [closed]
Just curious. Why do a lot of guys call each other “man”? What’s the origin of that term? EXAMPLE: “Hey, man. What’s up?”
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"Hey son" but never "hey daughter"?
In TV and movies (and presumably real life), people will often start advice to boys by saying "hey son..." But I've never once heard any advice to girls start with "hey daughter..."...
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Appropriateness of the word 'buddy' in America
I would like to know if addressing an American with the word 'buddy' would be considered offensive. If the answer is yes, would it be considered offensive by an American irrespective of the context ...
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What would be a gender neutral form of address as a highschool teacher? (British English)
In the UK, it's very common for secondary school teachers to be referred to as one of the following:
Sir/Miss
Miss/Mrs/Mr Surname
This would be both when the students are talking about the teacher, ...
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I use "man" referring to male friends...what should I use when talking with a girl?
Just like I asked in the subject line, I'm pretty lost in this, as I wouldn't know how to say a sentence like the following, speaking with a fem
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Is it okay to say “Excuse me, Ms.” to get attention from strangers who are women? [closed]
I was wondering that above sentence on title,
“Excuse me, Ms.” is rude or not. I’ve watched a video on youtube about English titles, but “Excuse me lady.” is very rude to get attention from women, ...
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Word for friend with female origins? [duplicate]
I often address people of all genders as "dude" but a female coworker said that dude has origins only pertaining to males and is therefore itself male. She challenged me to find a word to address all ...
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How do you say "Come on, man" to a woman?
I've heard people saying phrases like down below.
"That's not cool, man"
"Dude, look at this"
"Hey, calm down, bro"
But these words are supposed to be said to a male ...
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Gender neutral alternative to Sir/Madam
This question has been asked on this website before—but one example was closed as off topic, and the other specifically regarded use in a letter.
My context requires the use of speech, as if ...
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Dad, auntie, nana, grandpa, etc... What is this group of words used as informal family nicknames called?
When explaining to someone learning French when one has to use vous (the “formal
you” pronoun) or tu (the “informal you” pronoun), there is a basic rule of thumb I
find useful:
Vous — Used when ...
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What is the proper term for global nicknames such as "Dude", "Slick", "Jack", etc? [duplicate]
Some people have the tendency to use words in a context similar to a pronoun, despite the word in question being an adjective, verb, whatever. Examples would be someone like Agent K in the film "Men ...
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Is there a word for colloquial forms of address?
For example, "dude," "man," "buddy," "pal," etc, when used to stand in for someone's name. "Hey, pal, how's it going?"
Is there a word for terms like these? Or is "colloquialism" as close as we can ...
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Is "dude" becoming gender neutral? [duplicate]
Is the word "dude" becoming gender neutral? I don't think so, however, has modern usage changed? Are there some recent examples of "dude" being used to refer to a woman or group of women?
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What is the female synonym for the word "buddy" [duplicate]
Two men may use the word "buddy", but can a man call a woman "buddy"? If not, what is the equivalent for women?
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Can I use "guy" and "man" with female? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Is “guy” gender-neutral?
What is a feminine version of 'guys'?
Almost of my fellows are male, so I usually say "See you man" or "Guys, I have some ...
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How derogatory is “chicks” when used to refer to women?
A comment in “What is a feminine version of guys?” got me wondering: how derogatory is the use of chicks to refer to women (either in general, or to a specific group). To me (I'm a man), it was quite ...
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What is a feminine version of "dude"?
OK . . . another one similar to "What is a feminine version of 'guys'?"
"Dude" is masculine; what is the feminine version?
The usage I'm thinking of is that "dude" nowadays is used primarily as a ...
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What is a feminine version of 'guys'?
I commonly use the word 'guys' to refer to a group of males colloquially. It's colloquial but not rude, off putting, condescending, patronizing (though I wouldn't use it with a group of men at a board ...
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Is "guy" gender-neutral?
The plural "guys" definitely is, at least here in San Francisco — I'm often hearing all-girl companies here being greeted with 'Hi guys, how are you doing?'.
How about the singular guy? Is it ...
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