Quote:
Originally Posted by stopdog
If doctors or others use terms like hun at me, I usually first try telling them not to do so, then if they persist - I call them son or dear or bunny or something back. It has worked for me.
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Excellent strategy. Whenever I see the word "hun" used in writing I want to respond "Just call me Attila". (The first few times I saw it I didn't even realise that it was an alternative spelling of "hon".)
In Swedish, terms of endearment can't be used by people who are not very close. There is no slot in the language that those terms could fill, with people like doctors or shop assistants, unless they are talking to a very small child. The people who can use terms corresponding to "hun" are family, romantic partners, or extremely close friends. (Except there were no such terms in my family of origin, so it varies there, too.)
And this reminds me that I need to be working on that conference presentation about address terms....