Names and Titles Addressing People
Names and Titles Addressing People
Names and Titles Addressing People
people
Grammar > Using English > People and places > Names and titles:
addressing people
Terms of endearment
We use terms of endearment for people we are very close to or to whom we want to
show affection or friendship. They include: darling, dear, poppet (usually to a little
child), love, luvvie, sweetheart. They may combine with names:
Can you lock the car, darling?
Peter, love, could you take this to the post-box for me?
Groups of people
We use folks, guys, everyone/everybody, children, boys, lads, girls, ladies,
gentlemen to address groups. Some of these are more formal. For example, ladies
and gentlemen is more formal than folks or guys. Guys is used more and more for
groups of both sexes, not just males:
OK, boys, could you all wait in the main hall, please.
Everybody, could you all hand in your evaluations as you leave, please.
Come, on guys, come and help!
Addressing strangers
English does not have a standard polite way of addressing strangers. For example, it
is very difficult to know how to attract the attention of a stranger. Hello,
sorry or excuse me are most likely to be used. Sir! Madam! are not commonly used:
Sorry, you’ve dropped your scarf.
Excuse me, are you a friend of Sheila’s?
Job titles
We don’t normally call people by the name of their job or profession. Some jobs or
professions which we can use as terms of address are: doctor (medical), driver,
nurse, minister, officer, waiter:
Do you think it’s serious, doctor?
Now, minister, can you explain this policy to us?
Excuse me, waiter, sorry, could I have some more bread, please?
We use Dr /ˈdɒktə(r)] for medical doctors and people with a doctorate qualification
(PhD). We use a wide range of titles for jobs. Some common ones in business
management are:
1.
Chief Executive Officer CEO /si: i:əʊ/
2.
3.
Managing Director MD /em ˈdi:/
4.
5.
Financial Director FD /ef di:/
6.
7.
Chief Technical Officer CTO /si: ti: əʊ/
8.
9.
Vice-President VP /vi: ˈpi:/ (especially in the USA)
10.
11.
Chair/Chairperson/Chairman /ˈtʃeəmən/
12.
We often use abbreviations:
Kapor was founder and CEO of Lotus.