Believe it or not, everytime I hear this at work it is from a female, lol. But it still irritates me.
There is an older lady that says "Good Morning" to everyone so that has become her nickname. She even had it printed on an agency shirt...can't believe they let her get away with it. Everytime someone calls her that, I want to say her name is ____!
I know of a problem with a supervisor a few years ago that kept referring to her subordinates as her "children". And she treated them like children!! Not professional.
I'll let someone call me sweetie 1 or 2 times, but don't make a habit of it.
Hubby and I don't even have pet names for each other, it's too super-sweet