Someone today addressed me by "son" even though I was a girl.
Is "son" also used to refer to women?
Is "son" also used to refer to women?
"Son" used for boy and girl?
No, perhaps the person just confused you for a boy? (no offense, I hope).
Sometimes people will use the word 'guy' or 'guys' in the same way.
A milkman once referred to me as 'love' which I found a little strange.
I would not worry too much about it.
A milkman once referred to me as 'love' which I found a little strange.
I would not worry too much about it.
<<<A milkman once referred to me as 'love' which I found a little strange.>>>
Do you live in the North of England? If so, it's just par for the course. ;-)
Do you live in the North of England? If so, it's just par for the course. ;-)
I used to live in Bristol, where women would call me 'lover'.
However this happened in Oxford actually!
Very impressive I know, but I was just visiting a friend.
It is interesting to go on a car or a train journey through out the length of the British Isles. Now-er-days, I prefer to fly.
I am planning a trip round Wessex in the summer to visit some old haunts. The Westonbirt Arboretum, the floating harbour; Cirencester is amazing, Bath, Glastonbury, maybe Portsmouth, etc. The Mendips, the Cotswolds, possibly even, the Chilterns, and so on.
I have been on one or two memorable journeys. On one journey on the Sleeper there was retired Accountant who was talking about his life, finances and tax avoidance schemes. He had abruptly left his family in Australia and he was thinking of buying a property in North Cyprus. I don't think he was a particularly nice man, but old (elderly) people can sometimes be very honest. He was also very Scottish in his way, despite living most of his life abroad. Tales of ghillies, and of Polish soldiers during the war.
The funny thing about this conversation was that he was talking in a very loud voice about things that were quite private and personal. I think he even mentioned his dubious parentage when he was talking about ghillies.
However this happened in Oxford actually!
Very impressive I know, but I was just visiting a friend.
It is interesting to go on a car or a train journey through out the length of the British Isles. Now-er-days, I prefer to fly.
I am planning a trip round Wessex in the summer to visit some old haunts. The Westonbirt Arboretum, the floating harbour; Cirencester is amazing, Bath, Glastonbury, maybe Portsmouth, etc. The Mendips, the Cotswolds, possibly even, the Chilterns, and so on.
I have been on one or two memorable journeys. On one journey on the Sleeper there was retired Accountant who was talking about his life, finances and tax avoidance schemes. He had abruptly left his family in Australia and he was thinking of buying a property in North Cyprus. I don't think he was a particularly nice man, but old (elderly) people can sometimes be very honest. He was also very Scottish in his way, despite living most of his life abroad. Tales of ghillies, and of Polish soldiers during the war.
The funny thing about this conversation was that he was talking in a very loud voice about things that were quite private and personal. I think he even mentioned his dubious parentage when he was talking about ghillies.
***A milkman once referred to me as 'love' which I found a little strange***
Amazing and astonishing as this fact is considering the payment of fees issue (payable in Scotland but not in England) I am a Scot who went to an English uni - that at Leeds, which has about the most excellent English Department on the face of the planet....I can heartily confirm its reputation as being on the button.
Leeds is the largest city in Yorkshire - it's in West Yorkshire to be precise -which is in the North of England of course. I had never actually been to Yorkshire in my life before except for passing through it by train (as you have to on the eastern run from North to South).
I went there in the autumn of 2000 to begin my course and I had a fantastic time apart from academically, but I had only been there a day or so when a bus driver/conductor - a male of about 40 or so - addressed me as "luv" (that's Yorkiespeak for love) when I asked him for information, and to be honest with you, I didn't mind it at all - not a bit, but as a gay lad anyway that's no surprise.
In fact I quite liked it, and that was the first of a fair number of other occasions when this kind of casual male to male interaction took place. It's just part of the Yorkshire scene, and probably other parts of Northern England as well, although I didn't come across it in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in Geordieland - the North East of England. I don't think any male called me "love" there - more the universal "mate" which is, by far, the usual male to male form of address down here in London and the rest of Southern England, although down here it comes out as "mite". ;-)
Going south from Yorkshire and you enter the East Midlands and when I was in the city of Nottingham on a day trip from Leeds I found myself being called "me dook", mostly by females serving in shops of cafes and the like, and of the older variety at that, but I do know of one male who called me "me dook" - which is Notts-speak for "my duck" - very much an East Midlands form of casual address.
I thought Nottingham was a really nice city - great castle on a hilltop and the oldest pub in England - dating back to the Crusades which is the reason why it's called the Trip to Jerusalem! Nearby is a statue to Robin Hood, a local bad lad who was a good lad to the poor of his time. I wonder if he called Maid Marian "me dook"?
R M : Westonbirt Arboretum, on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, less than two miles from Highgrove, the home of Prince Charles, PoW: My Mum has been there as her Mum lives not too far away from there in Herefordshire. The best time to visit is in the early to middle autumn as it has trees from all the over world there and the foliage colour change is spectacular.
Cirencester is a wee bit further away to the north and if you are interested in the Roman period in England then you will love it.....the Romans called it Corinium, the site of a massive roman fortress with huge amphitheatre, on the famous Fosse Way road cutting across the whole central part of England in a dead straight line from Exeter, through modern day Cirencester to Lincoln, site of the Roman fortress of Lindum. Much of modern day Cirencester is built of the distinctive pale golden coloured Cotswold stone, and when Diana Princess of Wales was still married to Prince Charles, and living at Highgrove, she used to go shopping in Circencester whenever possible, with the two Princes William and Harry, then two very young lads, and they used to go into the local Macdonalds for a burger ot two.
Amazing and astonishing as this fact is considering the payment of fees issue (payable in Scotland but not in England) I am a Scot who went to an English uni - that at Leeds, which has about the most excellent English Department on the face of the planet....I can heartily confirm its reputation as being on the button.
Leeds is the largest city in Yorkshire - it's in West Yorkshire to be precise -which is in the North of England of course. I had never actually been to Yorkshire in my life before except for passing through it by train (as you have to on the eastern run from North to South).
I went there in the autumn of 2000 to begin my course and I had a fantastic time apart from academically, but I had only been there a day or so when a bus driver/conductor - a male of about 40 or so - addressed me as "luv" (that's Yorkiespeak for love) when I asked him for information, and to be honest with you, I didn't mind it at all - not a bit, but as a gay lad anyway that's no surprise.
In fact I quite liked it, and that was the first of a fair number of other occasions when this kind of casual male to male interaction took place. It's just part of the Yorkshire scene, and probably other parts of Northern England as well, although I didn't come across it in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in Geordieland - the North East of England. I don't think any male called me "love" there - more the universal "mate" which is, by far, the usual male to male form of address down here in London and the rest of Southern England, although down here it comes out as "mite". ;-)
Going south from Yorkshire and you enter the East Midlands and when I was in the city of Nottingham on a day trip from Leeds I found myself being called "me dook", mostly by females serving in shops of cafes and the like, and of the older variety at that, but I do know of one male who called me "me dook" - which is Notts-speak for "my duck" - very much an East Midlands form of casual address.
I thought Nottingham was a really nice city - great castle on a hilltop and the oldest pub in England - dating back to the Crusades which is the reason why it's called the Trip to Jerusalem! Nearby is a statue to Robin Hood, a local bad lad who was a good lad to the poor of his time. I wonder if he called Maid Marian "me dook"?
R M : Westonbirt Arboretum, on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, less than two miles from Highgrove, the home of Prince Charles, PoW: My Mum has been there as her Mum lives not too far away from there in Herefordshire. The best time to visit is in the early to middle autumn as it has trees from all the over world there and the foliage colour change is spectacular.
Cirencester is a wee bit further away to the north and if you are interested in the Roman period in England then you will love it.....the Romans called it Corinium, the site of a massive roman fortress with huge amphitheatre, on the famous Fosse Way road cutting across the whole central part of England in a dead straight line from Exeter, through modern day Cirencester to Lincoln, site of the Roman fortress of Lindum. Much of modern day Cirencester is built of the distinctive pale golden coloured Cotswold stone, and when Diana Princess of Wales was still married to Prince Charles, and living at Highgrove, she used to go shopping in Circencester whenever possible, with the two Princes William and Harry, then two very young lads, and they used to go into the local Macdonalds for a burger ot two.
***payable in Scotland but not in England***
Dear God! I've only just noticed my stupid error in my last post - I can't believe I got that the wrong way round! It is in fact the other way round -fees payable in England but NOT in Scotland!
Dear God! I've only just noticed my stupid error in my last post - I can't believe I got that the wrong way round! It is in fact the other way round -fees payable in England but NOT in Scotland!
I wouldn't find it normal to address a girl with "son". "Guys", on the other hand, has lost some of its inherent gender -- but only when used in the plural. The singular "guy" still usually means a person of the male persuasion.
I am English and I use son, lad and mate to address my male and female friends (only at the end of a sentence however). I don't know how widespread this is (lad is pretty well confined to Northern England as a rule) but I have definitely heard others (younger like me) use it.
"Love" is used only with women and is now considered a little bit sexist according to some people.
"Love" is used only with women and is now considered a little bit sexist according to some people.
'Love' seems to be used by older women in particular, and older men when referring to women here.
'Lad' seems common throughout the UK, but maybe not as dominant in the South.
'Lad' seems common throughout the UK, but maybe not as dominant in the South.