Why Koreans ask what year you were born

Re:Why Koreans ask what year you were born by mytailorisrich on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @04:04AM (#44245275)

It's quite common, even the norm these days, to address people by their first names in professional settings, among colleagues.

The thing is that this is becoming/has become the norm too when you get correspondance from strangers when the standard etiquette is to use title + surname, as in all European countries, I suppose.

Now, I think when people address you by your surname only orally or in writing is irritating.

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Re:Why Koreans ask what year you were born by ncruces on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @04:12AM (#44245319)

Well, I personally find title + surname the worst; it's obnoxious and elitist; my (first) name isn't "engineer". I can live with it, though. I just kinda hate people who demand it of others.

So, clearly, you can't please everybody.

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Re:Why Koreans ask what year you were born by mytailorisrich on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @04:27AM (#44245404)

By title I mean "Mister", etc. Perhaps "Engineer" is a German thing ;)

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Re:Why Koreans ask what year you were born by ncruces on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @09:19AM (#44247320)

And then you must know (if this is a system: store) the person's preferred gender, and in some cultures marital status.

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Re:Why Koreans ask what year you were born by fmbb on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @04:27AM (#44245403)

Not all European countries. We phased the title and surname addressing out during the 70s here in Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du-reformen

Personally I get annoyed only if a sales person addresses me by first name. There is no other setting where I would prefer a stranger to address me using my full name, unless we’re in some context where there are dozens or hundreds of strangers so one can not expect my name is unique.

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