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Parents who call their child "buddy"?

15K views 207 replies 154 participants last post by  meemee 
#1 ·
Whenever I hear a parent address their child "bud" or "buddy" it just doesn't ever sound warm or affectionate or even feel like a term of endearment to me. It sounds kind of cold. I could never imagine addressing either of my kids that, but maybe that's my take on it.

Edited to clarify: Whoa! I didn't mean to bait anyone in justifying this. It was more out of curiosity b/c I was not born in American and so my parents and most of their friends never used this word for their children. Before becoming a parent, I only hear the word buddy as the beginning of a rude remark, as in when taxi driver gets cut off and he yells out the window, "Hey buddy, what the f--- ". Or a guy wanting to pick a fight in a bar saying the another guy, "Hey buddy, what're you looking at?" I was hoping maybe somebody could explain the origin of this term when using it on children, but I guess that is really a dumb pursuit.

Second footnote: People who think I'm judging them need to be a little more imperturbable. I wasn't trying to stir up anything. That said, I should have taken a little more thought writing this OP rather than dashing it off on a whim. For that, I apologize. If you call your child buddy, you are not cold. Cold was the wrong word to use. I'm not sure of the right word to use. And even if I could find it, it would describe the way the word feels to me and not describe the person using it.
Names like "Bucko, Half-pint (to the person who wrote about Little House on the Prairie in this thread), and kiddo are examples of other terms that might be said with a lot of affection but doesn't stir up a soft fuzzy feeling in me. But then I don't get a lot of Americanisms like "buddy," country music, baseball and football, etc, even though I've practically lived here all my life.
 
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#2 ·
*shrug* I don't see it as a big deal, really. Lots of men call their sons 'buddy.' I don't think it's any less affectionate than calling them any other nickname (sweetie, honey, baby, etc)
 
#4 ·
I call my kids lots of things, including bud or buddy (although not really DD, mostly DS). DS is also bugaboo, bub, bubby, and kiddo. DS is chickyboo, girly, miss thang (
), and miss C. Of course I call them by their real names too.

All of their nicknames are a show of affection from me. I don't see how bud or buddy is any different than any other nickname. There are worse things. My dad used to call us little $hits.
Said affectionately (he's a weird one) but still......
 
#11 ·
Eh


People call their kids all kinds of pet names. I often call dd "ma'am" which is probably far more ridiculous than "buddy" and definitely a more impersonal term for the vast majority of people. But that's just what I call her sometimes, as in "thank you, ma'am." "Could you help me, ma'am?", "Excuse me, ma'am." etc.

If she were a boy, I might well call her buddy, instead

....
 
#12 ·
I also call my DS buddy, bub, bubby,baby, honey, sweetie, DD started calling him bug because she couldn't say bud properly


I also call DD peteunia, babe, baby doll, pumpkin, honey. ect

All of these are terms of endearment for us.
 
#13 ·
I call my son Buddy and it's definitely a term of endearment. Weird thread...
 
#14 ·
Where are you from?

In some areas of Atlantic Canada, buddy is basically like 'this guy' as in...

"I was filling my car up with gas when buddy drives up..."

I think it's probably quite regional whether you hear it as normal or affectionate or whatever.
 
#16 ·
I call DS "bud" sometimes. Sometimes I call him "bubby."
I don't mean it as cold and don't know why I started doing it. I mean them to be endearing though.
 
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