old chap

American  

noun

Chiefly British: Older Use.

1. (used in informal direct address to a man of any age.)

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Etymology

Origin of old chap

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

"You could join in, old chap," Laszlo generously offers, further enticing Nandor with a gentlemanly, "Room at the back!"

From Salon

On the occasion of a Rousseau retrospective at London’s Tate Modern in 2005, artist Dexter Dalwood made the point that Rousseau “wasn’t just this gentle, simple old chap … who spent his Sundays painting. … He was quite wily and difficult; he drank a lot and got into problems with money. He received a two-year suspended sentence for bank fraud. There was a lot more of the ‘street’ in him than some would like to believe.”

From Washington Post

"Thank you for your service old chap - it won't be the same without you."

From BBC

“When I first met her, she was going to see an old chap that lived in one of the nursing homes. She would pop in and see him, just because she wanted to help him out. I’d never done that. It’s like ‘She’s going out of her way, in her own time, to be nice to this guy that’s only got a couple of years left to live’ – and I thought that was pretty amazing.”

From The Guardian

“Don’t be a gullible idiot, but on the other hand, don’t lose it altogether, old chap.”

From New York Times