![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
How the British use names
Cultures are very different in how people use names, which name they use and how/when people introduce themselves.
For instance, I get very irritated when salesmen address me by my first name. My first name is for my friends. If someone wants to sell me a mortgage/gas company/sofa, he can darn well call me 'Mrs Proctor'. They only do it to make me feel I'm with a friend - you know they've been trained to do it for that reason - and it *grates*.
I love name badges at conventions - they remove all the awkwardness of asking people's names, especially when there's too many new people and you've forgotten...
If you meet someone at a party or in a social setting (assuming you haven't just arrived and been formally introduced by your host) how long would you wait before asking the name of someone you're talking to or before telling them what your name is? Would you do it immediately, after ten mins or so, maybe after a couple of hours, or never unless they asked you first?
(This isn't just about how easily you make friends or if you have Aspergers or whatever, I'm interested in English/american/Australian differences.)
For instance, I get very irritated when salesmen address me by my first name. My first name is for my friends. If someone wants to sell me a mortgage/gas company/sofa, he can darn well call me 'Mrs Proctor'. They only do it to make me feel I'm with a friend - you know they've been trained to do it for that reason - and it *grates*.
I love name badges at conventions - they remove all the awkwardness of asking people's names, especially when there's too many new people and you've forgotten...
If you meet someone at a party or in a social setting (assuming you haven't just arrived and been formally introduced by your host) how long would you wait before asking the name of someone you're talking to or before telling them what your name is? Would you do it immediately, after ten mins or so, maybe after a couple of hours, or never unless they asked you first?
(This isn't just about how easily you make friends or if you have Aspergers or whatever, I'm interested in English/american/Australian differences.)
no subject
no subject
no subject