Do you mind if people call you babe?

LouLou

It depends on how well you know the person using the endearment, of course. "Love, pet, dear, darlin', honey" could sound very condescending from a man you don't know very well (or, even if you did, in the case of a male boss, it still sounded like he was trying to undermine the women he was around).

As a rule, I don't use it with people I know, so others don't misunderstand me..and I expect the same from others. It's not appropriate to use if you're strangers, I think.

I also have a real thing about women who say "babe" all the time, it doesn't sound cute or affectionate to me, it always seems to sound fake.

I agree with the "sleazy" sentiment above: for some reason a woman constantly saying "babe" after every sentence also conjures up images of a woman smoking 50 B&H, doing phone sex in her bedroom, trying to foster a false, immediate bond...

Mind you, the only people I use pet words with are my baby brother and my boyfriend!

Tropez

I've been called many things, so babe is not one that is going to bother me.

People who get stroppy when told not to call someone something usually do so because they're embarrassed at having caused offence and become defensive.

hgotsparkle

My girl friends will call me babe, or babes and I'm fine with that because I generally say it back but I hate it when men call me it. Its just horrible.

Prothet_of_Doom

Depends who is doing the calling. If a male friend called me babe, I'd be wondering if I'd been sending out signals, and how to reverse them without looking homophobic.
If a female friend called me babe, I'd laugh, and suggest they not call me that, as people might infer something about our relationship that wasn't going to happen. I certainly wouldn't be happy, but I'd try not to make the person too uncomfortable either. Maybe you went a bit erm OTT ? Just because one person's language does not meet your normal expectations, does not mean that it wasn't innocent.

Mind you I work in an engineering office, and our Email filter, had to be changed as we were loosing Emails that had the word "Analysis" in it.
The Chief Design Engineer, has just sent me an email with the words "Inclement (Ie !!!!!!! Cold) "

CupOfChai

"Babe" is one of the certain pet names I really detest and it seriously puts my back up, "duck" is another one. If it isn't one of the particular names I hate then I don't mind pet words with people I know socially, but it gets my back up sometimes if a complete stranger calls me e.g. "dear". I'm not sure why, I think it just depends on how they say it, the context, and how tolerant I feel that day. Basically, if I do it first then it's ok, otherwise leave off until you know if I'm ok with it!

Edit - I also have certain words that I quite like, awkward aren't I?!

aliasojo

fashionlover10 wrote: »

...... I didn't like it and asked him not to call me it at which point he got huffy and stopped talking to me.

I'm not particularly fond of being called such names but I understand they are (usually!) meant in an innocent way, they are just 'kindly' meant terms, imo.

I think he called you Babe in an innocent way, not meaning to offend or embarrass. However your reaction most likely embarrassed him. I wouldn't have done that, I would have let it pass.

Mrs_Ryan

Me and my best mate call each other babe, OH calls me babe, darling or angel and my sister calls me chick which is all totally fine. My brother calls me sis and I call him bro another friend calls me pet or petal. They are the only people I can tolerate calling me any sort of pet name (although obviously my parents as well). I live in the East Midlands and have gradually became used to the term duck although you wouldn't catch me using it I cringe when anyone I don't know calls me babe and even when some of my colleagues do it I'm not keen- I think it's a bit over-familiar.

Meteor

Depends in the manner it's spoken.

Some assistants may say "Babe" to everybody in the context of their mannerisms so could be fun/warming etc.

I hate it when Sir or Madam is used as feels so creepy crawly! (like they are after something)

FatVonD

I hated that some of my ex's mates would call me honey, to the point that I have even said 'I'm not your honey'.

Now I hate it when girls young enough to be my daughter at work call me 'hunny' or 'babes' because they've watched too much TOWIE.

Also hate it when the security guy calls me 'Madam' though because it makes me feel old :rotfl:

zaksmum

My dad used to call me "chicken" as a term of endearment...on my wedding day when I was alone with him just before leaving the house he said "You look lovely, chicken," and it was all I could do not to well up and wreck my make up as he wrapped me in such a warm loving hug.

A sweet memory of my dad that still leaves me with a lump in my throat 43 years later.