Another kind of buddy

[Bradley A. Esparza]

Having grown up in the Calvinistic and Lutheran stronghold of Seattle where
you merely step over the drunk passed out on the sidewalk as not to bring
attention to his state, "Hey, Buddy" would be rude. A bum would use that to
get your attention to ask for change. "Hey" by itself is fine, or "ma'am" or
"sir" or "Excuse me", but never "Hey, buddy". If you wanted to start a bar
fight, that would be a good ice-breaker.

Bradley A. Esparza
World's Fair Baby

On 6/13/07, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> >Hmmm... other votes?
> >
> >m a m
>
> I wouldn't say "Hey buddy" to anyone, and I'd probably shy away from
> "Hey, mister!" too.  If someone dropped something I might go with
> "Excuse me!" if "Hey!" tout court seemed to be...too court.
>
> LH
>
> >On 6/13/07, William Salmon <william.salmon at yale.edu> wrote:
> >>
> >>>  When I need to address a male stranger on the street, I am just as
> >>likely to
> >>>  use "buddy" for the vocative noun as "mister":
> >>>
> >>>     Hey, buddy/mister,
> >>>        you dropped something!
> >>>        turn on your headlights!
> >>
> >>"Hey buddy..." has always seemed a bit condescending to me, not quite
> >>like saying "Hey boy...", but getting there.
> >>
> >>WS
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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