word usage - "Can I help you, love?" Love as a form of address: is it used regionally to talk to strangers?


I've been reading a chapter about the vocabulary of the Yorkshire dialect in the UK. Among other interesting curiosities ("child" plural "childer", "lad and lass" for "son an daughter") I've come across the frequent use of "love" as a form of address.



"It's time to go, love."



My question is: Do they use it when talking to strangers? For instance, if I enter a shop or take a cab, is the shop-assistant or the cab-driver likely to address me as "love"?



Answer



Yes, "Love" is used in regions of Britain as an address to strangers. It's pretty regionally restricted, and rather out-of-date; it was more common twenty, forty or sixty years ago. But there is a good chance that if you go to the right place for long enough some stranger (probably an older one) will address you as 'love'.


In my experience the term is more likely to be used by women (to either men or women), although men to women is also likely. It is more likely to be used by someone older, especially to someone younger (though I've heard young women use it to seniors too). It's unlikely to be used by men to men.


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