Do you mind male strangers calling you “love” or “darling”?

[Buzyizzy217]

Does it irritate you when complete male strangers call you by a term of endearment, like “love” or “darling”?
To answer the obvious question, yes, it does me and I tell them not to do it. Just curious.

Much depends on tone and context.
One of the market traders, fine.
If I'm in a nice shop, not so fine.
Can't stand it in situations where I may be vulnerable, like hospitals, etc.

No, I like it.

Doesn’t bother me, everyone does it up here regardless of sex.

Exactly!! It's really regional. Also in the midlands and anyone and everyone is fair game to be called duck - grown men calling one another duck regularly where I am, I even had a 5 year old kid call me duck once! I find it really warm and friendly.

I quite like it. Definitely tone matters, at work it would really piss me off from a senior man particularly. I work with mostly women and the oldest always calls me love but it feels nice coming from her, she is in 60s I'm in 40s. I think its usually for a younger person. I use it with kids but rarely with adults although i work with women much younger than me.

I live in the north and get called love, darling etc all the time and I really like it. My nan was a Londoner and would do the same.

I couldn't care less - there are a lot of worse things they could be calling me.

I don’t particularly like it. It rarely happens but coincidentally it happened yesterday and particularly since the guy in question was probably 20 years younger than me and a complete stranger, it did make me cringe slightly. I don’t think he would have said it to my husband. It seems like assumed intimacy and someone who’s trying to flip the script a bit but anyway, there are worse things to be called.

I work on a supermarket checkout and get called love, darling etc all day long, it doesn’t bother me one bit.

No

Yes. I absolutely hate “ terms of endearment “ by either a man or a women. It is patronising and unnecessary.

My work colleagues are spread abound the uk. I get called babe, hun, my lover, lovely, love and mate. Doenst bother me..

Love is a very common term where I am from for both males and females so no it doesn’t bother me

Blimey! Most speech is unnecessary - do you want all communication boiled down to the strict essentials?

As to absolutely hating terms of endearment: I guess affection is unnecessary. I like having it in my life though.

No

Not at all

Increasingly makes me rage.

Delivery guy the other day "Cheers, mate, oh! Sorry, love. I didn't look". Ew.

Much preferred being called "ma'am" in the States.

Of course I don’t mind and don't know anyone who would be bothered.

I’ve been either ‘duck’ or ‘bab’ for the last 40 years and I’m very fond of both but babe, love, dear and darling can get in the bin unless they are preceded by “excuse me” when someone is trying to get past me

Depends really, there are some accents where it sounds perfectly natural, like a strong Yorkshire accent or cockney. If it sounds forced or patronising then it's annoying

Objectively it is belittling and inappropriate. But in practice I’m hardly, if ever, offended but it.

I hate ma'am, feels like a Julia Roberts 90s script.

I struggle with not doing this to strangers myself. I even called the lady in Sainsbury’s darling this morning.

I feel like it’s almost expected locally to use love, lovely or lovey at the end of every sentence.
I tend not to do it at work though.
I also don’t mind a ma’am but it works better if coming from Americans!

Clearly, you’re trying to wind up some posters with that comment. Anyway, I’m a Northerner and I really don’t like it.