# Does it bother you when aquantances call you "hon"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254 "2005-03-25T20:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/41 "2005-03-27T04:07:58Z")
When I drove into VA for Barbecue, and a certain pretty waitress called me that, it really, really didn’t bother me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/42 "2005-03-27T04:42:02Z")
Guy chiming in: I generally think it’s quaint. If I’m in a diner or casual restaurant and I get called ‘hon’ or something of the ilk, it immediately makes me feel more at home. I do find it a little funny though when women who seem to be fairly young (say, 18-30) say it. It seems much more affected when someone who very well may be younger than me (25) calls me ‘hon’. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/43 "2005-03-27T06:44:46Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I live in Baltimore - EVERYONE calls me “Hon”. I am sure that Divine is spinning in his grave thinking that people don’t like to be called hon. I just knew I would arrive too late in this thread to be the first to invoke Baltimore. Hi **Ginger**! I’m from Glen Burnie (but don’t hold that against me). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/44 "2005-03-27T17:27:50Z")
Well, i’m not _from_ Baltimore, but it’s where i live right now, and as **Ginger** says, “Hon” is standard fare around here, so you’d better get used to it. One thing that is hard to convey in writing is the peculiarly Baltimore way of pronouncing it. Watch a John Waters film like **Pecker** or **A Dirty Shame** if you want to see it in action. I’m sure there are probably episdoes of **Homicide** where it crops up, too. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/45 "2005-03-27T17:48:38Z")
After moving to the Deep South, I have been called ‘shug’, ‘baby’, ‘sweetie’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’, ‘hon’, ‘Mister Mike’, ‘Big Mike’, ‘Big M’, ‘Boss’, ‘Chief’. It hasn’t bothered me. In fact I get a kick out of it. I’m hoping Southern woman tells me to ‘kiss my grits’. I guess I’ll have to be careful. I have been successfull in not picking up the accent, but I have picked up this particular habit ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/46 "2005-03-28T03:59:38Z")
It used to slightly irk me and it was something I would never do it. Then I moved in with \*\* laurelann \*\* and she says all the time. Ignore what she says about doing it sometimes. It’s all the time. I now do it a lot, but only with people I know. Never at work, unless I’m dealing with a lost three-year-old. Then it’s “Honey, what happened to your mom or dad?” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/47 "2005-03-28T14:14:28Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I’m from New Jersey, and I frequent diners. All diner waitresses call you “hon,” and I’ve learned to live with it. I have no problem when someone uses a nickname like that, unless, of course, it’s an obviously drunk homeless guy with no teeth, or something. I’m a cook. I’ve noticed that waitresses everywhere like to call their regular customers “hon” and “sweetie”. Unfortunately, I recently worked with a waitress who continually addressed **me** by those cutesy names every time she picked up her food from the kitchen. Drove me nuts! It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like the nicknames - is was more that I didn’t feel that this woman knew me well enough to be calling me “sweetie”. I don’t mind it so much from a waitress I’ve worked with for a while, though. For the most part, though, I really prefer to be called by my name, not a cute nickname. Of course, if there is the slightest chance that I might get laid, the woman can call me just about anything she wants 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/48 "2005-03-28T14:58:36Z")
Thirded: If it bothers you, don’t move to Baltimore. “Hey Hon” is a There’s a Cafe Hon here (with attached “Hon Bar”), and a little street fair every year called the “Hon Fest”. The typical Baltimore “hon” is also a kind of stereotype, probably most predominently portrayed in John Water’s **Hairspray**. Click [here](http://www.baltimorehon.com/) for starters. Google “baltimore hon” for more. Also, my dad calls almost all women “gals”. If you can believe it, he really doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s not sexist. . .I just don’t think he realized that everyone else stopped doing that in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/49 "2005-03-28T15:29:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, i’m not _from_ Baltimore, but it’s where i live right now, and as **Ginger** says, “Hon” is standard fare around here, so you’d better get used to it. > > One thing that is hard to convey in writing is the peculiarly Baltimore way of pronouncing it. Watch a John Waters film like **Pecker** or **A Dirty Shame** if you want to see it in action. I’m sure there are probably episdoes of **Homicide** where it crops up, too. It’s sorta like ‘hawn’. And it surprised me the first few times I heard it. Now when I’m interacting with the ladies at the Giant with the big blonde hair and the black eyebrows, I expect it. ---
**Author:** ![browneyes\_nyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@browneyes\_nyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/browneyes_nyc)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/50 "2019-10-14T19:11:51Z")
Funny how things work. I’m from Paraguay, and have been living in the US for 17 years. Having said that, in English any pet name used to refer to me I don’t care, I mean, in a respectful manner, obviously, haha. But in Spanish, oh, man, call me señora (ma’am) and makes me instantly MAD 🤣 So go figure 🤷🏻♀️ ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/51 "2019-10-14T20:02:18Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > Doesn’t bother me any. My best friend and I joined an EQ guild together and one of the officers has the habit of calling everyone ‘hon’. Bothers the crap out of my friend but I couldn’t care less. We call each other ‘doll’ and ‘dearie’ and ‘dahlink’ after all. (yeah, I know it’s different 'cause we know each other.) On the other hand, being called ‘ma’am’ bothers the shit out of me. I’m 24 dammit! I’m not a ‘ma’am’! _looks at user name, looks at last two sentences of post and laughs_ Yanno, there’s a Han Solo/Lonestar reference right there. I started getting called sir when I was about your age, when I wasn’t in uniform. It hasn’t ever gotten any less jarring in the intervening decades. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/52 "2019-10-14T20:06:10Z")
How interesting that you responded to a 14 year old thread… ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/53 "2019-10-14T20:09:33Z")
I take it Queen Bruin was a necromancer who has since disappeared with flash & a whiff of sulfur? I hate being called hon. I don’t offer that level of familiarity to anyone I don’t share a roof with, and I certainly don’t invite it. Therefore I see it as a machination to get me to drop my guard. Only an enemy asks you to drop your guard, so I preemptively throat punch “Hon” wielders. And I avoid Texas because I’d have to murder everyone in the damned state for calling me Hon. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/54 "2019-10-14T20:35:43Z")
I just tell them to call me by my first name instead. Regards, Attila D. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/55 "2019-10-14T20:43:12Z")
Since this thread has been resurrected… In general I don’t _hate_ it, although I do find it mildly annoying. But I do make one exception: In my thread a few months ago about [businesses that have been there “forever”](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=880317&highlight=forever) I mentioned Pancake Circus, an old diner that looks like it literally hasn’t changed at all since it opened in 1970. When I go there I actually kind of like it when the waitress greets me with “What’ll ya have, hon?” That just makes it feel like a more authentic old school diner experience. Actually, I heard that waitress passed away last year (pretty sure that was her anyway) :(. Apparently she’d worked there “forever”, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/56 "2019-10-14T21:54:20Z")
Just last week I was at my doctor’s office, and his nurse called me Hon. A couple of days later I got my car worked on, and the service tech called me Champ. I’ll take Hon. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/57 "2019-10-14T21:58:11Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > How interesting that you responded to a 14 year old thread… wha-uuuuh whoops!:o ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/58 "2019-10-14T23:48:03Z")
Doesn’t bother me one way or another. When I was in high school, there was this one lunch lady who called EVERYBODY hon. It was always “Thanks hon!” So you kind of got used to it. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/59 "2019-10-14T23:52:49Z")
When the sassy broad at the BK drive thru says it in her condescending tone when asking for my name I give the name Hilda ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254/60 "2019-10-15T00:09:43Z")
I’m a guy and I like it when older women in the service industry call me sugar or baby. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-bother-you-when-aquantances-call-you-hon/296254.md?page=4)