Another kind of buddy

[Wilson Gray]

I use "say, man" to get the attention of a casually-dressed
fellow-colored fellow. (In the '50's, there was an R&B record entitled
"Say, Man." It consisted only of a guy repeatedly singing "Say, man!"
over a background of fast-dance music.) Otherwise, I use "excuse me,"
adding "sir" or "ma'am," if the situation is one in which I feel a
draft. I don't think that any black person would address anyone else
as "pal," though, when I was a kid, my mother sometimes referred to my
friends as "your pals." "Buddy" is used in address only to a person
whose nickname is "Buddy," such as "Buddy" Herd or the brothers known
as "Big Buddy & Little Buddy," resp.

-Wilson

On 6/13/07, Dave Hause <dwhause at jobe.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Hause <dwhause at JOBE.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Another kind of buddy
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I see vocative 'buddy' as a neutral term of address for a male stranger in
> situations not requiring any term of respect.
> Dave Hause, dwhause at jobe.net
> Waynesville, MO
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Mandel" <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
>
>
> Hmmm... other votes?
>
> m a m
>
> On 6/13/07, William Salmon <william.salmon at yale.edu> wrote:
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org