Dude, bro, man, and other casual terms to refer to people (suburbs, kids)
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What term do you use to refer to people casually, if any? Also, where are you located in the US?
I use the term "boss" to refer to people casually. Like someone says "hello" to me and I reply with "what's up boss?" Or if I want to address someone, I say "hey boss, can you...". I am from Chicago and I find we say this a lot in this town.
I also used to say "dude" a lot when I was younger. Nowadays I find myself not using it. I don't know why, I just call everyone "boss" and the people around me do so, too. I admit I probably use this term more around males, but being that 100% of my friends are male, it probably has to do with that. I have at times referred to females as "boss", too. But I do find that people who use casual terms tend to save them for the same sex. Even when some guys call each other "baby" here. "What's up baby!"
It really depends. A stranger is probably going to be a "Man" while a close friend might be a "Dude". Boss is definitely a Chicago thing.
That makes sense. Everyone here uses it. They could be 15 or 50, Black or White, well-to-do or broke as hell. Everyone calls each other boss here. Another one we use is "joe" but that's more early 2000s and only used in urban settings. No one in the suburbs calls each other "joe" and it was mostly used by the kids or people in the "hood".
I know this is the US forum but across the massive ocean (not a ****ing pond!) we say the following
Boss - in urban settings
Bossman - Same as above
Fam - Same as above
Mate - EVERYWHERE LITERALLY.
Duck - Some random Northern England I think.
Love/Lovey
Pet - Northeast England down to Yorkshire
I know this is the US forum but across the massive ocean (not a ****ing pond!) we say the following
Boss - in urban settings
Bossman - Same as above
Fam - Same as above
Mate - EVERYWHERE LITERALLY.
Duck - Some random Northern England I think.
Love/Lovey
Pet - Northeast England down to Yorkshire
Dafuq???
English people are awesome!!
By the way, the whole "love" and "mate" thing has its equivalent in how some people call each other "baby" here. I've even heard some New Yorkers refer to each other as "love". But then again they were of Jamaican descent. Not sure if that would have affected it.
P.S. I wish I could say "mate" like you guys do. The phrase "wtfmate" is so awesome but many "Yanks" here don't seem to get it.
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