“Hey there buddy! Daddy missed you.”
You were away for a few days on a trip for work. You've just come home. Your four-year-old son is glad to see you, and you're glad to see him too.
Hey there buddy! Daddy missed you.
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Hey there!
"Hey there" is one casual and friendly way to say "hello".
Here are a few situations in which you can say "Hey there" to greet someone:
- You're at a concert. You see someone that you work with, but you can't remember her name. You say "Hey there" when you walk by her.
- You're fishing on a small lake. A family rows by you in a row boat. You say "Hey there" and smile at them.
- You're friendly with one of the people who works at the local market. When you see him working there, you say "Hey there."
buddy
"Buddy" is a name that you can call someone instead of their real name. The word "buddy" means "friend".
English speakers mostly use "buddy" when talking to a younger man. Here are some specific relationships in which someone might call someone else "buddy":
- Fathers, uncles, grandfathers, etc. often call their sons, nephews, and grandsons "buddy" from young childhood until their teenage years, and sometimes longer.
- Male friends who are similar ages sometimes call each other "buddy".
When you call a stranger "buddy", it's just a little bit rude and aggressive. For example, if a man is taking a long time to get a ticket at an automatic ticket machine in front of you, you might say this if you get really frustrated:
Hey buddy, can you speed it up?
Daddy
"Daddy" is the name that many young children call their fathers. They start to use the name "Daddy" at about 2-3 years old and keep using it until about age 10-13. As children get older, they start to use the name "Dad" instead of "Daddy".
When parents speak to very young children, from 0-5 years, they often speak about themselves as "Daddy" or "Mommy" instead of using "I" and "me". For example:
Daddy doesn't like it when you throw your toys.
Of course, there's a lot of variation from family to family in what children call their parents and how parents refer to themselves.