How do you address a stranger in your area?
@MashaVickina (2184)
Russian Federation
June 16, 2018 6:48am CST
Hello, everyone!
In Russia, if you have to ask a stranger something, you should address him according to his gender. For example, if a person is of my parents' age, I will say "Man! Could you help me, please?" or "Woman! Where is the nearest bus stop?" If a person is young (before 35), I will say "Young man!" or "Girl!" Interestingly, if a woman is even 40 years old but she looks good and fresh, I will also call her "Girl!"
If you want to talk kindly to an elderly person, you can call him/her "grandmother" or "grandfather," but in general, we call them "man" and "woman."
I guess that for foreigners, our tradition seems strange as we do not call strangers "brother" or "Mr." like in other countries. Please, share your traditions with me
How do you address a stranger in your place?
How do you address a stranger in your place?10 people like this
11 responses
@LadyDuck (471968)
• Switzerland
16 Jun 18
We do no address to strangers calling them "man" or "woman". If I have to ask a question to a stranger, I smile and I simply say "Good morning (or afternoon), could you please tell me where is the nearest bus stop?". This is the way we do. Calling a stranger brother or sister is unacceptable.
3 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 18
@LadyDuck We don't use that either (brother/sister to strangers) If someone said that here I think that the other person would say: "What do you mean? We are not related" because we only use those words about our families
3 people like this
@MashaVickina (2184)
• Russian Federation
16 Jun 18
Thanks for sharing Yes, for us also
Yes, for us also2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 18
When we address someone we have two options in Danish: "Du" and "De". In the past people used "De" when they spoke to strangers and "Du" when they spoke to family and friends. Today most people use "Du" in every situation including situations where we speak to strangers. It is possible to use "De" if you want to be polite, but most people don't use it today.
3 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 18
@MALUSE No, we use "De" when we speak to the royal family. I think that is the only exception, in all other situations it is acceptable to use "Du".
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 18
@MALUSE I know that the Queen is an artist, but I haven't seen any of her paintings. Yes, she is a smoker. The Danes disagree about her smoking. Some people think that she sets a bad example by smoking. Other people think that she should be allowed to smoke if she wants to.
@MashaVickina (2184)
• Russian Federation
16 Jun 18
@Porcospino Your rules are so nice and clear
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
16 Jun 18
In our country we mostly refer them with a relationship depending upon the age as a mark of respect. Brother, Sister, Uncle, Aunty etc. We never call them as Man or Woman here in our country. Yes, since we are one of the Common Wealth Country we also use Sir and Madam for educated people! Thanks!
1 person likes this
@MashaVickina (2184)
• Russian Federation
16 Jun 18
Cool. And how does your wife address your mother?
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
16 Jun 18
@MashaVickina , She calls her as Aunty ans so does my daugter in law call my wife! But in India most people address their MIL as mother , especially in northern part of the Country! Thanks!
1 person likes this
@MashaVickina (2184)
• Russian Federation
16 Jun 18
@AKRao24 Thanks for your kind reply
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
16 Jun 18
I'll just smile and say something like: "Hi, would you know when ...."
2 people like this
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
16 Jun 18
Hi Masha. We call a stanger “kuya” or “ate” (brother /sister) as a sign of respect. Filipinos can be sensitive if you call them by their names. To be safe, say “excuse me po”.
2 people like this
@Jessabuma (31700)
• Baguio, Philippines
16 Jun 18
We call strangers "kuya, ate, Lolo , Lola , uncle, auntie" (brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle and Aunt).
And we used "po and opo" as a sign of respect.
2 people like this
@abhaijith (2963)
• India
2 Aug 18
Generally we address the strangers with Sir/Ma'am...
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
28 Jun 18
We tend not to identify anyone as Mr or Ms but would probably just say "Excuse me please, could you tell me blah blah blah.People would be quite offended if you addressed them like that Man or woman here. It would sound rude or patronising to a younger person.
That is not to say that endearments are not used. For example some people might use the term mate or Luv to a lady. In all honsty I think it best not to use any endearment it sounds more respectful.
1 person likes this
@anamika161088 (11866)
• India
17 Jun 18
Here we don't need to make some remark before asking to strangers. We directly ask the questions. In case if a person in elderly then I prefer to use uncle. Aunt etc
1 person likes this
@saritflor (3914)
• Hungary
17 Jun 18
I address a stranger that way, "excuse me, can I ask you something"?
1 person likes this
