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What is the word for the words we use to address a person or people to whom we stand in a particular relationship.

For example I usually address my friends as "boss". I greet them with "Hey boss, how are you doing?"

Neighbouring words or terms include term of endearment which doesn't fit as endearment seems too affectionate a word for the context to which I'm referring.

Similarly pet name is too affectionate and it's also used to tag a specific person rather than a collection of people.

NB: Apologies if my wording is unclear.

Edit: Emphasised collection of people to clarify why pet name or nickname aren't appropriate in my context.

tchrist
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piccolo
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    You are making this question kind of hard by already preempting for yourself what could be useful answers: monikers, terms of endearment, and pet name. – user405662 Dec 23 '20 at 10:17
  • The "boss" example is specific to you. Do you mean the category that includes words like "bro", "dude", "buddy", etc? – niamulbengali Dec 23 '20 at 10:22
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    @user405662 I've explained why I've omitted those two terms. – piccolo Dec 23 '20 at 10:32

2 Answers2

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OED:

nickname, n.

  1. A (usually familiar or humorous) name which is given to a person, place, etc., as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.

1984 M. Scammell Solzhenitsyn (1985) iii. 77 In early adolescence, when he suddenly grew much taller than the others, he earned the nickname of ‘Ostrich’.

2001 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) May 219/2 In negotiations, Grossman exuded a menacing charm; around Greenwich Village, his nickname was ‘the floating Buddha’.

$10 word - high register: sobriquet n. (also found spelled as soubriquet) An epithet, a nickname.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset II. xlix. 57 Her name was Susan, but he had always called her Posy, having himself invented for her that soubriquet.

Greybeard
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You might talk of casual terms of address in general for such terms as "pal", "buddy", "mate", etc. However, the terms you are referring to are of another sort, they are apparently a very personal choice of yours among terms not used for that purpose; for this reason you might talk of (highly) idiosyncratic terms of address.

LPH
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