Hi mate

In South East London it’s without doubt the most common greeting by miles.

its used in conversation too. If I’m speaking to someone I’ll end almost every sentence with mate.

”How much do I owe you for the shopping mate?”

”Just stick it in the garden please mate”

My most used word without a doubt.
 
As a term I never I tend to use it interchangeably with people I know - "Howat mate" or "Howat Steve" both to the same person that I know - or, like most, when I don't know who the hell they are - "excuse me mate, can you just squeeze past you there, cheers" - none of which I would associate as a term showing respect TBH.

I also use matey, buddy, fella, guys, folks, ladies, duck, miss, kid, kidda etc all very interchangeably for people I don't know as well (as per the example above they can all be used).
 
Am i the only one who like to mix it up, i pick a different one each time, mate, buddy, pal, bro (lots of variations of bro like broski, brosephine etc) me old china, ey up me duck, nice one norman, cheers ears, whatsaaap, I'm sure there's many more sometimes i just make them up. Yeah im weird.
 
As many have already pointed out its about context but if I was to say "hello mate" to someone and they get offended I mentally mark them as snobs and do my best to stay clear of these types of people (I will admit that I do not use it much professionally, personally I don't think it should be a problem here either, its a ******* word. Get a grip) One things for sure, it'll be the next word that people/scientists will claim is offensive if they haven't already.

Mate =
uk/meɪt/ us/meɪt/
NOUN [ C ]
  1. an animal's sexual partner
  2. a friend
  3. used as a friendly way of talking to someone, especially a man
  4. a person who is employed to help a skilled worker
It will be deemed offensive to people who are asexual or unable to have a sexual partners for whatever reason. If a word like "optimization" is being demonised what hope does "mate" have.

phys.org

Grassroots effort champions inclusive language in science

A new grassroots effort—announced this month in Trends in Ecology and Evolution—is calling for a reevaluation of some terminology used in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) to make it more inclusive and precise.
phys.org phys.org

If people get offended by some quasi offensive term of endearment they can get ****** in my book.
 
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