Is there a way to insult in english by the manner of address? For example in manylanguages you can call someone informal address and they will fall into a frenzy.
insulting by address
It is not that common, but a handful of people whom hold doctorate degrees might be offended if you were to refer to them as Mr. or Ms. Jones instead of Dr. Jones. A handful of married women might take offense if you call them Miss instead of Mrs. I remember once when I knew a man that was offended if someone omitted his middle initial.
I have heard of situations where individuals were offended by the common phrase "you(se) guys" when referring to a group of females. I will admit to doing this, but as of yet, I have not received any unpleasant feedback.
Certain dialects consist of referring to people as "boy", "kid", "hey you", "girl", etc. and it might cause an uproar if you say it to the wrong person. I do not enjoy this myself, but I am not going to knife someone over it.
Other dialects favor endearing terms such as "honey", "sweetie", "darling", "sugar", etc. I remember once when I was in the South, a pleasant thirty-something woman called me "Sweetie" and "Darling" throughout our entire conversation. At first, I thought she was hitting on me, but I later learned it was just a common thing down there. This sort of thing might cause trouble if you use it in a business environment, as North America has serious sexual harassment laws.
I have heard of situations where individuals were offended by the common phrase "you(se) guys" when referring to a group of females. I will admit to doing this, but as of yet, I have not received any unpleasant feedback.
Certain dialects consist of referring to people as "boy", "kid", "hey you", "girl", etc. and it might cause an uproar if you say it to the wrong person. I do not enjoy this myself, but I am not going to knife someone over it.
Other dialects favor endearing terms such as "honey", "sweetie", "darling", "sugar", etc. I remember once when I was in the South, a pleasant thirty-something woman called me "Sweetie" and "Darling" throughout our entire conversation. At first, I thought she was hitting on me, but I later learned it was just a common thing down there. This sort of thing might cause trouble if you use it in a business environment, as North America has serious sexual harassment laws.
I remember how someone said here once he was admonished for addressing an audience as 'you people'.
Can you use formal language in order to create a 'cold distance' of hatred between someone you hate, even if they're an equal or lower social standing?