Another kind of buddy

[sagehen]

>Quite a while since I've heard either but;
>I remember "buddy" used as a salutation more when being panhandled then
>anything else. From the song, "Buddy can you spare a dime"?  Occasional
>past tense "we were buddies back in the...."
>
>"Pal" seemed to be used more often as an aggressive, derogatory  comment
>then as a friendly greeting. People seem to start calling each other
>"pal" just before the bar fight starts.
>
>Joel S. Berson wrote:
>> I hear them both as slightly disrespectful.  Probably because I would
>> not like to be called "bud", "buddy", or "pal" by someone I was not
>> buddy-like or pallish with (that is, acquainted and somewhat friendly
>> with).
>>
>> See also James Harbeck.
>>
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of these terms, it seems to me,  are susceptible to different
interpretations depending on the setting.    The "hey, pal" on the street
might be to deliver helpful information, whereas in a bar, as Paul  said,
it could be the forerunner of a fight.
I haven't heard "Sis" or "Sister" used to address a stranger for many
years. It might have been regarded as rude by the genteel, but in itself
was neutral.  Neither antagonistic nor over-familiar.
AM
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