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In english it is common for me to add a term of endearment to the end of a greeting or goodbye. What are some common ones for people you casually know or are close to in these situations?

I would say: "Hey man" to a guy I know well. "Hi baby" (and others) to a girl very close to me. "Hello sir" to a man I met. Simply "Ma'am (Madam)" to a woman I just met.

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  • Не могу комментировать, но пишу только чтобы люди не делали глупостей общаясь в России. Весь набор ниже приведенных выражений ни в коем случае нельзя использовать при общении с незнакомыми людьми неизвестно к какой социальной группе относящихся...Будет воспринято негативно... Yet there exist several "slanguish" forms: "ЗдорОва, пацаны" (Hi, pals); "Привет, братан" (Hi bro); "Привет, дружище" (Hi fellow) "Привет, мужики" (Hi buddies); "Эй, зёма" (Hey, man (literally "Hey fellow contryman")); "Эй, братишка" (Hey bro) and so on.
    – citleon
    Mar 23, 2015 at 0:13
  • Ну, сленг никогда и нигде не является нормой общения с незнакомыми людьми. Если обратиться к какому-нибудь американцу "Hey, buddy", так он, пожалуй, тоже воспримет это крайне негативно.
    – Matt
    Mar 23, 2015 at 6:31
  • Sorry, I don't have enough reputation to leave comments, I just want to ask, I'm a native Russian speaker, is "Эй!" really a greeting? Adressed to stranger it sounds more like impolite way to get his attention, not a greeting like "Hey!" is used in English sometimes.
    – Dima K.
    Mar 23, 2015 at 6:53

2 Answers 2

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You may use "Здравствуйте" (Hello) or "Доброе утро/Добрый день/Добрый вечер" (Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening) to greet any person you know or do not know, this is more of respectful greeting than an informal.

You may use "Привет" (Hi) or "Приветствую" (Greetings) as an informal greeting to the person you know quite well, but never to the person of older age.

If you know a person you are greeting, you may use his/her name after the greeting, like "Привет, Саша" (Hi Alex), or "Александр Петрович, здравствуйте". The order of words does not matter much.

In written form, a comma is required between the name and the greeting phrase.

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"Adding a term of endearment" to a greeting is not much common in Russian except for the close relations. Usually you may choose between several forms of greeting (like 'Добрый день', 'Здравствуйте', 'Привет', 'Здоро́во' etc.) and (last but not least) accent.

Yet there exist several "slanguish" forms: "Здоро́во, пацаны" (Hi, pals); "Привет, братан" (Hi bro); "Привет, дружище" (Hi fellow) "Привет, мужики" (Hi buddies); "Эй, земляк" (Hey, man (literally "Hey fellow contryman")); "Эй, братишка" (Hey bro) and so on.

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  • So is it more important to say that those extra terms of addressing someone, aren't commonly used?
    – TomSchober
    Mar 25, 2015 at 14:44
  • @TomSchober There are no common "all-purpose" forms, only situational ones.
    – Matt
    Mar 25, 2015 at 14:49

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