What do you think about people calling you "honey"?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I am in my forties, but a lot of people (such as waitresses, sales clerks, cashiers) call me "honey" and "sweetheart" all the time. I think this is fine, when the person is older than me, but I get annoyed when someone who is young enough to be my daughter calls me "honey." Males never call me by these names (with the exception of my husband!)

Occasionally, a subordinate at work will call me "honey. " I tell them immediately not to refer to me that way. But when a waitress does it, I let it go. I'd like to ask them not to, however.

I have only rarely referred to anyone as "sweetheart," and when I have, it's been a child, or a pt in a very vulnerable, hurt state, who is seeking reassurance and protection.

What's your opinion on this?

Specializes in SICU.
I will never forget how I felt when I moved to New Orleans and everyone called me

BOO BOO.

First off I told them I wasn't a mistake, I was a planned birth.

Later I noticed a few had shortened the endearment to just plain...BOO.

I would respond. YOU DIDN"T SCARE ME.:jester:

Hahahahahahahahaha!!! I forgot about boo!! We say that too... LOL... :lol2:

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Where I live, very few people use honey for people they don't know. It must be regional. I never liked it much. It rubs me the wrong way when someone younger than me does it but I find it kind of sweet when a little old lady does it. Like I said, it's a cultural thing. Definately in the South it's commonplace, I lived in SC for 3 years once, but I don't care for that part of the country.

What really rubbed me wrong was when I worked in a nursing home and the CNAs would use 'honey' with the residents. It always struck me as disrespectful when they had already been stripped of much of their dignity.

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
I work in an aged care facility and I now call all the residents by either their first name or a shorterned version except for one lady who is the mother superiors mother and gets called ahma which is the chinese version of grandma.

I have no problem with being called most things so long as they aren't rude. I get kiddo (I'm the youngest full timer staff there), pet and di most the time.

I don't care for kiddo. I guess I'm uptite about people who use terms of endearment with me who I don't know very well. I also don't like it when someone starts using a nickname for me that I never use! That irritates me!!!:angryfire

Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.
If it is an elderly patient calling me honey, I generally irnore him, for calling me honey, and see what he wants. If it is a male patient that is in control of all his senses, I generally respond "yes, sweetheart'. It is usually enought to get them to stop.

Woody:balloons:

:lol2:Thanks for the giggles Woody :)

as a southerner, i have been called "honey" and "darlin" all my life. i can feel the difference when someone intends the term to be of endearment in a nice sweet southern drawl, or when someone is just being a jerk. no, it doesn't bother me at all, its my way of life.

I've noticed that one used a lot on our floor is "babygirl".

But it is really hard to get mad at my 60-something CNA when she walks in with a big smile on her face and says, "Hey there, babygirl, how's your night been so far?"

I guess it's a southern thing (though I'm technically in the midwest, my area likes to think of itself as southern, lol). As staff, we use hon, baby, babe, girl, sweetie, a lot. (to other staff)

Occasionally we will use it with patients as well, though the relationship usually starts out more formally than that.

I also tend to call people "Mrs. Smith" quite a lot. In this area, you also hear a lot of "Mizz Jenny" type stuff as well.

And I often get addressed as baby, babygirl, or hon by my elderly patients as well. No biggie. There are definitely worse things.

Specializes in ER, Occupational Health, Cardiology.
Considering all the other names - I would rather be "honey" than Mam - I think its a face saving I dont know your name deal - dont mind it at all

Where we are, "Ma'am" has ALWAYS been a mark of respect.

When a little old lady in the nursing home calls me honey it's just fine, but when some 17 year old behind the register at Mcdonald's calls me honey I'm like, back up, kid!

Yea, I've got a real problem with teenagers calling me cutesy names.

It isn't as insulting as what happened to my sister's mother-in-law, though. She has been single for some years and is in her early 70's. She's still active and gets around good, still dates and considers herself attractive... every year they take a big family trip with my sis & her husband and all, and one year they went to Cancun. Well, one evening they were at some club thing, and there were these young guys out dancing and my sis's MIL was out there and dancing and they started flirting with her and she was flirting back and eating up the attention until one of them said, well, I'd better go, thanks for the dance, Grandma!

Grandma! Boy, that took all the romance out of that evening!

Specializes in ER, Pulmonary.

i have that habit of honey and sweetie and in nursing school we were taught not to do that. i work in the er and when someone comes in who is in pain, sick, or injured, it's natural for a woman's maternal instincts to kick in and want to nurture these patients as if they are your own kids.

i think the "mom" thing kicks in on auto and sometimes you don't even realize you are doing it!

i'm 40 and hate to be called ma'am. i work with another nurse who is the same age as me and she calls me honey. it's not so much the label, it's that you have a close relationship with those you work with and they think of you on a more personal basis, or at least that's my case. :lol2:

Specializes in urology, pediatrics, med-surg.

I'm in Arkansas and like everyone else has said, honey, hon, darlin' and even sweetie are everyday occurances here. I've got one I run across fairly often though that I've not seen mentioned. Since I've moved back here I've been called "sis" more often than I have in my whole life. My brother and parents call me that, but these were people that couldn't possibly know that. It's kind of a cultural thing around here too. I agree that it's familiar, but it's typically intended as warm and friendly and I'd much rather than that people be all stiff and distant around me. Of course you can be friendly by using my name, but around here, that's often just not the way it is. I don't mind it and it kind of feels like home now. :lol2:

I'm from the South and we call people "honey" all the time. So, I have no problems with being called "honey" by anyone.

I totally agree. I'm from Tennessee. It is a southern thing. I don't get offended at all! I guess if you aren't from the south it would seem a little weird but here it is perfectly normal. Many of my patients call me honey, men and women.

I think it's, well, "sweet"...Honestly, I don't care as long they're just saying it out of habit and not meaning a whole lot by it.

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