Reply To: Southern use of impersonal pronouns

#37246

Nina
Participant

The term girl is a term of endearment. This is a black and southern trait the use of ‘girl’. Southerners tend to be formal and do not refer to non-intimates by their first name. Its ‘Mrs Jones’ or ‘Miz Cathy’if you are close, and only ‘Cathy’ to very close friends and family. People do not refer to or speak to their elders by first name. Using the term girl is taking it to the other extreme, it implies extreme familiarity. In spanish this is also done, ‘nena’ and ‘chica’ are used among close friends. One you call ‘girl’ is someone who is a peer, an equal and implies a certain intimacy. Many people do not like to be referred to by their names, they feel they are private. So using a persons name isnt neccessarily something they would want or desire. I dislike when sales people or my childrens teachers use my first name in conversations with me. I feel they are being overly familiar. nina

User Detail :  

Name : Nina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : mulit, Religion : Catholic, Age : 33, City : CS, State : CO, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,