No, you just need to get the hell out of Salt Lake City. When someone calls you "honey" they are not referring to you as an equal. If your grandmother does it she's treating you as her grandson, which is naturally not equal, but if a little ol' lady you never met does it she's being a presumptuous little grandmother and just assuming that it's cool. But nobody really worries about the elderly because there's just an assumption of deference.

When random redneck asshat presumes that kind of familiarity with a woman he has never met, he may not be consciously condescending to her, but he is most certainly not thinking of her as a true equal. She's not his daughter, not his wife, not his little sister, so why should he assume that it's okay to refer to a female stranger with a condescending nickname, especially when he probably wouldn't call me "son"? Probably because he's got a mind set which casually assumes a level of deference between men and women.

Actually, I think most people use honey or sweetie as a form of affection in a sense. It certainly isn't intended for dominance. And nothing says you can't call them honey too (though in your case, you might get smacked :laughing:)

I prefer sugar tits, but only when I greet fat dudes.

“bud” is the male equivalent

**** anyone who uses the word bud

I use it sometimes.

Usually mate though.

nice 1 m8

I hear Bud sometimes (short for Buddy I guess). Sometimes it's innocent, but sometimes they're being smart. You can't tell sometimes.

typical canadian sentences for the white male between the ages of 18-30 always contain a “bud” and finish with the rhetorical “right?”

'Mate' is more common but both are friendly terms.

'Mate' is also an Asian thing.

'Bab' (not babe, bab) is common if said to a woman (or a woman to a man, usually an older thing though).

Never heard of that one. Love is what we use (regardless of age: "You dropped your purse, love" - "You want a drink, love?" - "No, the neighbour has gone out, love, I think" and so on.

Pal, mate, friend, head (more for when you know someone well: "You going to the match tomorrow, head?"), bud (but not normally buddy), Mister (younger to older), son (older to younger), all acceptable forms of address from male to male in Ireland.

For men to women we also use babe, honey, sweetheart, young wan, missis (usually as a kind of joke when used to address a younger girl) but as I say for general address to some woman or girl you don't know it is, perhaps oddly, usually "love" we use.

Ah, we crazy Irish! :D

Some of the northern guys call each other 'ducks' :D:D