DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it rude, or at least unprofessional, for my urologist to never address me by name and instead use the word “pal”? For example: “Hey, pal,” or “Take it easy, pal.”

He is about 30 years my junior, but I have other doctors younger than him who do not do this. At first, I thought this was a generational thing of “being cool” or whatever. But now it just disgusts me, and I’m on the cusp of cutting ties.

GENTLE READER: It is supposed to be cute. Like you, Miss Manners doesn’t much care for cute.

However, she has noticed that there is hardly a way of addressing people formally without the risk of causing offense.

Sometimes it is just the use of formality, as when a person addressed as “mister” says, “That makes me feel old.” More often, it is the choice of title, as when

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