Dear is a commonly used endearment in the UK. At any point in the day a woman may find herself called ‘dear’ by a postman, a delivery man, a ticket collector, a shop assistant. These people don’t normally apply the endearment to men and actually look quite affronted if answered in the same vein.
Dear also means expensive and ‘Oh, dear’ is an expression of dismay.
So, if you go shopping with a woman friend of very mature years or an elderly relative, you might expect to hear, ‘Oh, dear, it’s very dear, dear.’
My daughter commented to me the other day that she had been speaking to a man, a stranger about some work related matter and after she said thank you very much. He said that's okay honey. We both pondered on this. I'm sure had my daughter been or sounded like a male, he would not have offered the endearment.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a throw back to more patriarchal days, but women can do so too and they might apply their endearments to both men and women, boys and girls.
:-) So true!
ReplyDeleteYes, true indeed! :o)
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment. Perhaps 'dear' is used a bit too much sometime in the US as well. I don't like it when it is used in a patronizing way! We, however, do not say expensive things are 'dear.' But in reality they sometimes are. LOL.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Loved this post!
ReplyDeleteEllie Garratt
It's a nice word that we Americans could stand to use more often.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice for the letter D!
xoRobyn
I love it when someone calls me Dear, or Honey. It just sounds like love to my ears. We don't do that at all in Canada that I know of. We are quite formal here. But in the Southern United States it is quite common to be called Honey.
ReplyDeleteHere in the Deep South of the U.S. everyone is dear, hon, honey. And of course for phrases is the ever popular, "Oh, bless her heart!" Love the local colloquialisms!
ReplyDeleteLanguage is an interesting subject, and it's also interesting how words are used in different places. In New Orleans, for interest, "darlin'" is the endearment of choice, and it's used liberally by everyone from relatives to waitresses!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite endearment for sure. When I lived in Pennsylvania items that made someone happy were always 'dear.'
ReplyDeleteI've missed you, Jan. Glad to know you're doing well. :O)
what I can't stand is when someone who is obviously so much younger than me they could be my child, refer to me as "dear"....it sounds condescending under those conditions and makes my blood boil...the same with the word "honey"
ReplyDeleteMy pet hates are 'love' or 'sweetheart' from strange men (usually very strange) :O)
ReplyDelete