No. They are all just average everyday words. Any extra significance that you or I think they have is something that we have personally added.
Maybe my attitude is tempered by years of psych nursing and learning that I can be someone’s “best friend” in 1 minute or that people can “love” me or “hate” me without knowing my name.
But to get worked up about what one person calls another person requires you to make a whole lot of assumptions and let them fester in your head for a while. If your first thought is “who cares” it is also your last thought.
The “Daddy” part is a little odd, but potentially understandable if he’s taken on a fatherly role in her life. “**My **Daddy,” addressed to an actual child of the person in question, is… creepy, possessive, and rude. Tom Tildrum’s suggestion is my personal favorite, but I think melodyharmonius’s is the most reasonable. Just (subtlely and politely) emphasize that he’s your father in the response.
Can’t it be both? Nothing rubs it in like sitting alone in a movie theater, weeping silently over some shitty rom-com while you take pulls from a hip flask.
And on looking, apologies to the OP. I didn’t read Skald the Rhymer’s post as if he were going to behave like a dickhead, I just stupidly responded as if that was the tone of the post.
I think if you don’t engage with the thought and get all screwed up about it there is no problem. It is an interesting situation and hard to not notice.
Say something to someone else about it. Casually ask your Dad if he’s noticed it or make some light hearted comment to one of the cousins. Often airing it takes all the tension out of things even without any resolution - it just stops being bottled up.
It seems to me like these kids lost out on ever having a Dad (and Mom), and are looking for some kind of confirmation that they are an important part of the family. The fact that nobody confronts them on it is probably sufficient confirmation.
I can somewhat relate to this, seeing as my grandparents are basically my parents. I have always had parents, but they were so awful at parenting that 99.9% of my actual needs were met by my grandparents, not my parents. They know it and I know it, and truth be told I gave more honor and respect to them than any of their actual kids.
But I still, out of respect for others’ feelings, refer to them as ‘‘Grandma and Grandpa.’’ That’s just sort of common sense, right? While I understand the emotional conflict and the need to have a loving parent, I do think you have every right to be irritated.