|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Terms of endearment |
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address and/or describe a person or animal for which the speaker feels love or affection. Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their children and lovers addressing each other.
Contents |
Such words may not, in their original use, bear any resemblance in meaning to the meaning attached when used as a term of endearment, for example calling a spouse "pumpkin". Some words are clearly derived from each other, such as "sweetheart" and "sweetie", while others bear no etymological resemblance, such as "baby" and "cutie". The first evidence of the current connotation for terms of endearment varies. "Baby" is first used in 1839 and "sugar" only appears as recently as 1930.1
Most terms of endearment are concrete nouns that have favorable associations, either with a sweet taste or the nature of the relationship. Sometimes, abstract nouns are used, such as "sweetness", implying that the object of the speaker's affection is not only sweet, but embodies sweetness itself.
Use of terms of endearment can reveal little or nothing about the true quality of the relationship in question.
Some are very restricted in their use, such as "hubby", which is only used by someone addressing their husband, while others can be applied in a variety of contexts, such as baby, as shown in the following paragraph.
Each term of endearment has its own connotations, which are highly dependent on the situation they are used in, such as tone of voice, body language, and social context. Saying "Hey baby, you're looking good" varies greatly from the use "Baby, don't swim at the deep end of the pool!". Certain terms can be perceived as offensive or patronizing, depending on the context and speaker.2
Some terms may be combined for added emphasis, e.g. honey bunny, and convey a sense of greater affection. The longer the string of terms, the greater the sense of affection is conveyed. Some terms are used only in combinations with others and can not stand alone. For example, cutie pie as simply pie, is not considered a term of endearment. Some combinations seem nonsensical, odd, or too long, such as baby pie or sexy cupcake pumpkin, and are seldom used.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |