Hello, Sergey. In some areas of the UK people call strangers "love" (Lancashire and Yorkshire), "duck" (Sheffield), "hen" (Scotland), "pal" or "mate" (meaning "friend") for example. Here the word "dear" is quite formal and old fashioned, and generally if it is used in spoken English is almost always directed towards a woman. However it seems to be becoming more common again to call someone "dear" on Social Media. The only time we would almost always say "dear" is when writing a letter, e.g. "Dear Mr Jones, Thank you for your enquiry." Was the person writing to you or speaking to you? If the person was a male speaking to you, I would certainly say this is very uncommon in the UK. If it was a woman addressing you, uncommon but not so unusual perhaps. I hope this helps! Kate

British perspective. Hi dear male to male would be weird on the street. Hello dear man to woman would be used by some old people in certain areas. Hello dear woman to either man or woman would also be used by some older people in certain areas. Dear Mr Mrs Sir is still sometimes used on formal and informal letters and Dear Frank Helen (male of female first name) is also still used in letter writing. Hello dear on the street is heard in some areas of the UK especially by older women. If you are unsure do not use it until you get to know the people and the locality. And dear is used by many from the younger generation in parts of London. Also Manchester I believe with a similar culture in regards to using dear. It is normal it is only misguided younger people or people from other lands and cultures who get all worked up about it. That's all for now my pet. = ? your homework.

At least in the US, that's not very common. You might call your partner "dear", but you usually wouldn't say it to a stranger.

Not normal but some people see it as just an ordinary greeting