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この間も『のりこくん、お弁当買いに行ってくれないか』だって。

I know that the suffix くん is used with boys' names, while ちゃん is used with girls' names. But I've just listened to a dialogue between two girls, and one of them is talking about what her boss said to her.

Why is くん, not ちゃん, used with the girl's name？

Enguroo
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    Related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/45066/chan-kun-what-is-used-currently-for-a-friend/45078#45078 – BJCUAI Sep 19 '19 at 03:53
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    Note that this type of くん is often seen as old-fashioned and pompous. See: https://komachi.yomiuri.co.jp/t/2010/0325/303778.htm – naruto Sep 19 '19 at 07:30
  • @naruto Really? I'd guess that a boss using くん is to avoid getting accused of セクハラ. – ratchet freak Sep 19 '19 at 09:00
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    @ratchetfreak For that purpose, we can just stick to さん regardless of sex. – naruto Sep 19 '19 at 09:20

1 Answers1

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one of them is talking about what her boss said to her.

This is very important context. くん can be used by a boss for a subordinate regardless of their gender. Outside of workplace, it can also be used in other hierarchical settings, e.g. a teacher talking to a student or a school club's president speaking to a club member.

However, as mentioned by @naruto, especially in workplace it seems to be going out of fashion, in part exactly due to the potential confusion about the person's gender. The gender-neutral さん is likely the better option nowadays.

Igor Skochinsky
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