What are your favourite solidarity terms? As in, excuse me mate / pal / buddy, you've dropped your ticket.
Are any of them gender-neutral?
Pal is from the Romani word for brother.
Mate (according to Wiktionary) is an old Germanic term for one with whom you share food (meat). But my intuition tells me that mate
(as a solidarity term) is probably not gender-neutral.
Buddy is usually assumed to be baby talk for brother
, but again Wiktionary says it may be a comrade, one with whom one shares booty (hmmm).
I've used my friend
as a gender-neutral solidarity term. It's hard to think of others.
