In North America, is it normal to address children you don't know as "honey"?

Solution 1:

It was hard to find a dictionary that had it, but here it is:

(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female). — Random House Dictionary via Dictionary.com

It's not all that common, especially when used for a child you don't know, but it's something I've heard before, typically coming from women or people Biden's age. More often than not, the child addressed is a girl. The familiarity of the expression is supposed to be comforting to the child (not that it always hits its mark in this regard).

Hon is another term that's used similarly, a shortening of "honey". It's probably just as popular; both enjoy a lot of usage in some populations to refer to adults.

Related is the term "honey child", though in my experience this isn't used in the area that Biden is from.

Solution 2:

Not only is this normal in the US in my experience (as a visitor), but I think you can generalise this to it being normal to treat children familiarly in most countries.

In the UK it certainly is completely normal. The familiar term changes depending on where you are, of course - "duck" is the equivalent for much of the north of England, for example - but the concept remains the same.

In many countries, this is even formalised in the language. French, Italian, German, and related languages all have a word for "you" which is used with people you're familiar with, and all adults address all children using that form. (For that reason it can be rude to use that form with adults you don't know.) Japanese does something similar, where adults generally don't use the "respectful" form of grammar with children.

Solution 3:

I lived in the US for roughly 30 years, and I’d say that this usage is quite common, and nothing out of the ordinary.

As someone else said, it’s avuncular, and seems quite appropriate when someone of Biden’s age addresses a young girl who is feeling uneasy and in need of sympathy and reassurance. It’s nice.

I like it when waitresses in Texan BBQ joints call me “hon”.

Expanding the scope a bit, things like this have interesting regional and cultural variations, in both the US and the UK. As a male 19-year-old, I moved from the south of England to Yorkshire, in the north, and was quite taken aback when male strangers (like shop clerks and bus conductors) called me “luv”.

In Australia, “mate” is almost always friendly, but in the UK it’s often confrontational.

In the US, I think that “pal” is usually confrontational (in the areas where I lived, anyway).

It’s amusing when Penny on “Big Bang Theory” calls her Cal Tech uber-geek neighbors “sweetie”, but don’t know if that’s typical for a Nebraskan 20-something waitress talking to male post-docs.

Geography, culture, age, gender, and context are all important when deciding what forms of address are “normal”.

Solution 4:

As an american with family all over (my own from the south and midwest, my wife's from the north and california) I can say with confidence that it's a common term for "person much younger than ones self" especially when you don't know their name or as a term of endearment, in the south and midwest. Though it is falling out of favor with people 40 and under as the other use of "honey" as a name (any man to any woman who 'obviously' isn't as capable as said man. Sexism Will Apply) has made the under-40 crowd leery of it in general. That being said my mom was a kindergarden/pre-k teacher for decades and used it universally, and I had an english teacher who referred to all her students as "her hons" (hon being short for honey.) My other older southern/midwest relatives use it occasionally, usually when addressing a girl. I've never heard my yankee/california in-laws use it though!