this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2026
51 points (88.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38711 readers
941 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I was raised to address strangers and those I wish to show social deference to as "Sir" or "Ma'am". It's a difficult habit to break, as it is deeply engrained.

What is an equivalent gender neutral honorific that is relatively common in English? If I can't break the habit I'd rather have a substitute word to use instead of an awkward pause in the middle of addressing someone

I'd just use Google to ask but I'd rather ask the people directly rather than an AI generated answer based off of Reddit threads

ETA: I suppose if Yessir and Yes'm work, Yesn't could too? Mostly joking… but maybe… 🤔

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is hard.

Buddy? Sounds dismissive.

My friend? Sounds like you're a scammer or a slimy salesperson.

Pal? Sounds mildly aggressive.

Dude? Arguably masculine.

Gen Alpha might have it right -- "bro" seems to be gender neutral and used by both boys and girls.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dude is absolutely gender neutral, didn't you learn anything from Good Burger?

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I agree, but not everyone agrees. And the problem with these "honourifics" (or whatever these are called) is that you have to get them right before the recipient heard them.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 8 hours ago

Sibling; cuz; fam

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think technically it's "bru", possibly "bruh"

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago

I think young Millennials and Zoomers said "bruh", and it was mostly used ironically.

Younger Zoomers (I think?) started using "bro" unironically, and it caught on big time with Gen Alpha. At least from what I've heard.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I dot know about all gen-x but I feel a strong aggressive feeling at 'bruh'. Maybe the legion of kids saying it so often that you wish for a 'literally' as respite has given me opinions.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I assume this is what getting old feels like is all. We rolled our eyes at the adults who rolled their eyes at things we said that were "cool". And now we roll our eyes at the young kids (who are in their 30s now). heh