Let's Talk About Endearments

[rsadelle]

Coworker L's partner A now works for us. I've heard L start to call A "sweetie" or a diminutive version of A's name more than once. This is what originally got me thinking about the use of endearments, and then I asked for endearment suggestions for something I was writing and got back the same answer from three different people - and it was an answer that doesn't feel right to me for the story. I did not grow up in an endearment-using household. My mom will sometimes call us "kiddo" or "sweetie" and one of my grandmothers used to call us "kid," but that's about it. For myself, I'm most likely to use endearments when talking out loud in response to a TV show or celebrity interview ("honey," "sweetheart," etc., and usually in an "Oh, honey, no" sort of context) or with small children who I will call "kiddo." A quick google didn't lead me to any useful research on the usage and prevalence of endearments (surely some linguist has studied this), which means I'm going to rely on anecdotal evidence from you. So talk to me about endearments! Do you use them? Did you grow up in a family that used them? Do you hang out with people who use them? Have you noticed patterns in how people use them/who uses them? Would you expect people from different regions to use different endearments? What about people in different professions or in different socioeconomic circumstances? Would you expect men and women use different endearments? Have I used the word "endearments" so many times that it's now lost all meaning?

Comments

[megyal]

My family doesn't use endearments, but nicknames/abbreviations. I think it's a cultural thing where I live, although female strangers can call each other 'dear' or 'sweetie', and men might call women Mommy or Auntie. And Daddy and Uncle for older men, regardless of blood relation.

My mum is Jay-Yu, from the first two letters of her name. My brother is Deeps, from us saying D.P for his initials and it sliding that name. My sister has a LOT of nicknames: Skip, Shirley, Charley, Punkinhead or a diminuitive of her real name. My brother is an excellent nicknamer, in that when he names someone, it sticks.

I actually am the only one without a nickname! Sometimes we call our brother Baby Hulk.

[rsadelle]

This is all so interesting! And in all the time of reading your family stories, I never knew why your brother was Deeps.