# Is it normal in Arab culture for a man to address another man as "dear" in a conversation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-in-arab-culture-for-a-man-to-address-another-man-as-dear-in-a-conversation/845249>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 22, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-in-arab-culture-for-a-man-to-address-another-man-as-dear-in-a-conversation/845249 "2019-12-22T19:10:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-in-arab-culture-for-a-man-to-address-another-man-as-dear-in-a-conversation/845249/21 "2019-12-25T17:18:09Z")

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Not quite the same thing, but in Indian English a man can describe another man as being “a very ‘my dear’ fellow,” which I interpret as someone who is a pleasant companion.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-in-arab-culture-for-a-man-to-address-another-man-as-dear-in-a-conversation/845249/22 "2019-12-26T19:13:42Z")

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> [@gdave](#):
>
> “حبيبي” doesn’t translate to “mate”. It literally means “my beloved”

So does “mate”…

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