Being called Darling

[cliffords]

I am male and 60 . I have noticed recently an increasing amount of generally fairly young women call me Darling , shops cafes etc . Happened twice just today . Putting aside any notion that its a homage to my magnificent physique . Where does this come from.

I would absolutely not call any woman darling , but for my wife or daughter . I would think it was creepy and potentially get me in trouble .

I actually quite like it , however I have really noticed it in the past year .

Thanks Darling
Tap here Darling ( card machine)
Ok Darling ( hello )

Any other dashingly handsome males of a certain age noticing this or imagining it as my wife just told me
She added they no longer see me as a threat , more like their Dads . Made me feel very good

[BertBert]

Also the use of "my lovely". Lovely I am. Theirs I am not (but open to offers).

[deadslow]

[Dog Star]

Fairly common oop north.

[Richard-D]

cliffords said:

She added they no longer see me as a threat , more like their Dads .

Surely you followed up that with a question of why your wife might call her Dad darling? I mean she's asking to be wound up there. When did she move away from Norfolk?

[MEC]

You wouldn't go half a day round here without being called 'Love' !!

[Panamax]

Are you a former Chancellor of the Exchequer? Or is it the black eyebrows?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Darling

[Bluevanman]

Up here they call you darling,duck,hun,babe and any other term you can think of .....and that's just other men

[bobtail4x4]

MEC said:

You wouldn't go half a day round here without being called 'Love' !!

yes same here

[Ritchie335is]

It s great, much rather that, than ignore you or grunt. It s what makes us British. I would think if it bothers you, would you not be better looking for something more significant to be bothered about?
I travel a lot all over the world, and to have a friendly person say suchlike to me, makes me smile. I m used to blatant rudeness, and not just from the wife.

[ShortBeardy]

`lover' pronounced `luvur' in Devon,

Really strange the first time, but it goes with the territory of not being sexually visible over a certain age. I remember sitting in a coffee shop on UA campus (AZ) during fresher week. Girls getting dressed up to join sororities. I was surround by young women in cocktail dresses at 10 in the morning in Starbucks. I was sitting on a high stool in the corner with my laptop doing emails and totally invisible, which was odd as much of them noticeably wasn't.

[toon10]

Dog Star said:

Fairly common oop north.

Was going to say it's pretty common up here in Northumberland. Younger guys have to be careful though. I remember a young lad I work with saying something like "Should be all fixed now pet." to an older woman at work. Pet being a commonly used term of endearment up here. The older lady took exception to being called pet and went to HR about it. She even said that if he had been older, she wouldn't have been offended. Mental.

[CaptainScarlet1967]

I took a train down to Brum once during university holidays (should've been revising for re-sits) to audition for a TV gameshow in the hope I could win some money.

I stopped off at a city centre sandwich shop near New Street station and I remember very salt-of-the-Earth old school brummie lady addressing me as "bab" throughout.

"Bab."

First time I had encountered it, let alone be called it, and it became a distinct memory of Birmingham. That and how pleasant she was, and the top-notch egg mayo sarnie she prepared, which was crammed. She knew I wanted to stretch my money.

I don't know how commonplace "bab" is these days (if any Midlanders could confirm - I quite like the adjective 'bostin' to mean great), but it is nice that there are / have been regional differences when it comes to titles of endearment.

I hope those that are inoffensive do live on, especially in an era where regional dialects and accents are disappearing, merging, becoming Americanised or being replaced.

As for 'darling' and '(my) lovely': definitely popular in recent years. 'Hun' as well.

Anyone who uses apps like Vinted or Depop can expect to be addressed by women more than men, if not exclusively. Obligatory 'x's at the ends of messages, also.

[Pixel Pusher]

cliffords said:

Putting aside any notion that its a homage to my magnificent physique

Don't discount this though, maybe they do think you're hot stuff?

Do you use Lynx?

[Castrol for a knave]

CaptainScarlet1967 said:

I took a train down to Brum once during university holidays (should've been revising for re-sits) to audition for a TV gameshow in the hope I could win some money.

I stopped off at a city centre sandwich shop near New Street station and I remember very salt-of-the-Earth old school brummie lady addressing me as "bab" throughout.

"Bab."

First time I had encountered it, let alone be called it, and it became a distinct memory of Birmingham. That and how pleasant she was, and the top-notch egg mayo sarnie she prepared, which was crammed. She knew I wanted to stretch my money.

I don't know how commonplace "bab" is these days (if any Midlanders could confirm - I quite like the adjective 'bostin' to mean great), but it is nice that there are / have been regional differences when it comes to titles of endearment.

I hope those that are inoffensive do live on, especially in an era where regional dialects and accents are disappearing, merging, becoming Americanised or being replaced.

As for 'darling' and '(my) lovely': definitely popular in recent years. 'Hun' as well.

Anyone who uses apps like Vinted or Depop can expect to be addressed by women more than men, if not exclusively. Obligatory 'x's at the ends of messages, also.

My wife is a Brummie and I get called "Bab" and also "lovely" all the time.

I tend to use "love", being a northern monkey.

I don't recall ever getting grief for calling a woman" love" and if I do, I will accuse them of denying me my cultural roots and that I identify as a 50's working class northerner, then give them Hilda Baker gags from both barrels.

I am 56.

[Furbo]

cliffords said:

I am male and 60 . I have noticed recently an increasing amount of generally fairly young women call me Darling , shops cafes etc . Happened twice just today . Putting aside any notion that its a homage to my magnificent physique . Where does this come from.

I would absolutely not call any woman darling , but for my wife or daughter . I would think it was creepy and potentially get me in trouble .

I actually quite like it , however I have really noticed it in the past year .

Thanks Darling
Tap here Darling ( card machine)
Ok Darling ( hello )

Any other dashingly handsome males of a certain age noticing this or imagining it as my wife just told me
She added they no longer see me as a threat , more like their Dads . Made me feel very good

Move to Derby. Get called "Duck". By men.

[General Price]

Bluevanman said:

Up here they call you darling,duck,hun,babe and any other term you can think of .....and that's just other men

He's not talking about prison.

[Al Gorithum]

Yes very common. It's a term of endearment so is welcome

However, a mate of mine who owns a coffee shop is being sued by an ex-employee because one his clients called her "love". She's a chancer though so can't see that going very far.

[Sheepshanks]

MEC said:

You wouldn't go half a day round here without being called 'Love' !!

Really threw me when I worked in Leeds for a while to hear men calling other men "love".

[200Plus Club]

Dog Star said:

Fairly common oop north.

"Love" or "duck" are common as opposed to darling generally up here.
"Cock " or "Cocker" if you are near Barnsley:-)