Hun, Sweetheart, Dear

[V M]

That's pretty cool Bombi  Up where I'm at now, most folks are rather polite most of the time. But not always. Many will so hello, etc. We also have what's called a "Cowboy nod". It is usually an unspoken form of hello, but some folks will say "Howdy" along with it 

[El]

my male friends mostly call me babe or hun, mostly its just jokingly but i am rather androgynous in my actions etc. I look 80% male i recon so in day to day life dont get it anywhere near as much.

I mostly call my male friends son, or certain ones get a babe.

This topic reminded me of a funny story from last week. I rang my weed dealer and at the end of the convo he accidently called me babe and got really uncomfortable . Also i few months ago i was in a friend's garden with him and a girlfriend of mine when his housemate came in a said "sorry mate, didnt realise you were entertaining a couple of ladies" I collapsed into a fit of giggles

[Lukas-H]

I know I'm late to the discussion party here but I've been busy lately with RL stuff.

I hate, hate, hate, hate these nicknames with a fiery, burning passion. It's not only these, but most pet names in general that tick me off to no end. 

Where I work, older people and the elderly are our main customer base and I get each one of these names sometimes multiple times a day; I just grin and bear it, but inside all I want to do is tell them "This is my name, it's on my tag, read it, it's not difficult."

But I'm not allowed to say things like that at my job. Most of you are right though that the elderly don't usually care what gender you are when it comes to pet names, I think it's kind of a generational thing. I rarely ever get these sort of names from someone under 40. It's pretty obvious to a lot of people what my physical sex is, partly thanks to my terribly betraying voice. 

I guess what ticks me more than anything is when I -know- that some people are using these names simply because of my appearance. I've only gotten 'Sir' a few times; I thought my head was going to swell like a hot air balloon even after that man realized his 'mistake' later on.

[Cindy]

I think there is a difference between work, casual society and friends.
I spend a lot of time in a nursing home and everyone uses the first name to the carer and to the caree (?). I'm a visitor and I'm addressed by my first name.

I have a tendency to talk to my girl friends as Hun, or Hon and of course use their real names. I just find it chatty and informal to people I trust.
I usually say G'day Mate to males and females I meet in social context, a common Australian greeting.

My sister in law always greets me with; Hello Gorgeous.
I don't have a problem with that either.

I think as long as you are not making fun of someone, who doesn't know you as a close friend, greetings are just that. Hi


Cindy James
Cindy James

[Lokaeign]

I have this terrible habit of randomly calling people hon, babe, sweetie or dude, without any regard for gender presentation.  Mostly dude.  I try to watch it a little--esp. around people with more ambiguous gender presentation, or who I know to be TG or TS.  Last thing the world needs is an androgyne ostensibly sniping at or undermining other peoples' identities, even if the impression isn't intentional.

[Fenrir]

One I REALLY hate is 'babe'. It just makes my skin crawl.  Actually, I'm not too keen on 'sweetheart' either. Both sound pretty patronising to me...
I like 'dude' though. It's pretty gender-neutral where I'm from and so it's quite versatile. Mind you, so is 'man', which is probably unusual. Oh, well, I still get kicks out of them anyway.
I actually don't mind 'hon' because to me it sounds more affectionate than one of those "I didn't bother to learn your name"-type appelations. I suppose because quite a few of my elderly relatives say it a lot to me! 'Bro' would be cool...
My mother sometimes calls me 'mister' as well, which I like. She also calls my little brother 'madam' which he doesn't like.

[Genevieve Swann]

Gender neutral is good. Sometimes I use expressions (vulgar) which apply to everyone in within my vision. Anger management? I enjoy being called ma'am or sir. no problem.

[Lokaeign]

I use bro, bruv, and brother a fair bit, but pretty much only when there's some kind of fraternal relationship.  I might call a male-identifying friend I've known for a long time bro, or another heathen I'm close to (esp. if they're an Odin's-man or a Lokean).