Mind your language! Volunteers told to tone down terms of affection when Tour de France visits

I'm Northern, and I have no issues with being called love, duck, darling (sometimes people miss the beard) or lad but mate always sounds weird unless it's one of your actual mates.

Easy do what I do when some oik refers to me as "mate" turn around and tell them that you are not their friend and certainly not the breeding partner

"aye wheyaye , just gan doon heor" followed by "ah divvent knaa what yer taakin aboot".

Now what could be more simpler to understand than that ?

Nothing wrong with implementing high standards of professionalism, and thinking about regional and international interpretations of language use.

Shop staff calling me "mate" does irritate the hell out of me. Obviously it doesn't irritate others. But why not apply some simple guidance to aim for the highest standards and creating the best impression and experience for visitors?!

Nothing wrong with implementing high standards of professionalism, and thinking about regional and international interpretations of language use.

Shop staff calling me "mate" does irritate the hell out of me. Obviously it doesn't irritate others. But why not apply some simple guidance to aim for the highest standards and creating the best impression and experience for visitors?!

I can see both sides. We are forgetting that this is a possibly the biggest sporting event. It's not a local thing and universal and world wide standards have to apply not some regional foibles. The country has to fit the Tour not the other way round. you may not like that but that's the way it is.
Equally I get most arsey being called "mate" by some teenager who is easily young enough to be my offspring and then some. Same in shops. The little old lady who calls me "dear" in the local paper shop is in a different position to one of many in Asda. Many peoples normal language isn't always correct either. Most of the kids I teach (7-11) are totally bemused when they are told that "hell" or "crap" is not acceptable. I would guess that this is all part of the same thing.
I fail to see how it can be policed however and would suggest that it is just part of a large companies general theory rather than anything that will cost someone their job. Can't say it worries me either way to be honest.
Typical example of something being made out of nothing.

Imagine somebody getting a bollocking for encouraging Geraint Thomas up one of the many climbs on day 2 with a "Come on G, dig in lad" instead of the far more appropriate "Mr Thomas, I believe that you be better placed if you put a little more effort in".
Are the French being asked to be a little less regional too, I wonder??

As someone who's English is a second language, I'd have to say that it isn't the Brits or the Americans that would be most put off by such informal addressing, but people, like me, that mostly use English in business dealings in a work environment.

It took me a good long while before I figured that I could discount words such as "love", "mate", "lad", when used by total strangers...

Maybe the organizers should create language tutorials for the visitors as well?

In Glasgow, people frequently call women 'hen' - imagine the confusion that might cause!

Dear Volunteers,

Please avoid being yourselves.

Thanks

you can just imagine all those folks in front of their computers reciting 'the rain is spain falls mainly on the plain' over and over again until they sound RP enough

As a Yank I would hardly be put off by someone calling me "love" while visiting. It is just a bike race after all... but worry not the US has the same PC dribble. Happy Easter!

I've been called "love" and other informal terms of endearment by plenty of service sector employees (including Asda staff here in Yorkshire). Who really gives a toss?

Can't file this one under "PC gone mad" but maybe "anodyne homogeneity strikes again".

As chrisb87 says. This is standard for any public facing job. The organisers have brought in Asda to do the training. They are going to apply their store training to this. It's not PC gone mad or anything like that. I work in retail. If my boss caught me using informal titles with customers I would be taken to the side. I will also never use a customer's first name unless I was a personal friend of theirs.

Chuffin eck!
I've been living down south for for the last 24yrs, 16 of those in Sussex, but I still call everyone "Love" "Lovey" or "Duck"
You can not just turn off an expression that you have used all your life.

Next they'll be telling us not to wear our flat caps, to hide our whippets, and also to stop warning Americans to stay on't'roads.

Jeez how stupid, only in the UK could political correctness go this bezerk. At the end of the day people say these terms in a welcoming and pleasant, not offensive manner, all regions and countries have their own sayings...

this is standard for any public facing job, why make a big deal about it (and yes I'm taking part as a tour maker)

Absolutely fucking ridiculous...
"could you try to sound not quite so Northern".
Good job the tour isn't going to Liverpool, Newcastle or Wolverhampton, isn't it. They would just be asking them to point.
(no offence meant to people from those fine cities, either)