# A doe, a dear, a female dear? Favorite endearments?



## MyName (Oct 23, 2009)

Simple stuff like Sweetheart and Darling. I love it when couples have a whole conversation and call each other "dear" the whole time, because it's so formal and uptight like an old movie or sitcom. I've called people "baby" but actually only in serious contexts like if I'm consoling her or we're making love. I'd feel silly otherwise, although I'd love to be called "baby" by a woman all the time, it's so hot (What would Dr. Freud think of that?). I'll also refer to lady friends as "my girl", talking to them in the third person, i.e "How's my girl been today?" I hate sugar, pumpkin, anything with pie at the end, cutie, exc. like most other people on here.


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## Ace Face (Nov 13, 2011)

LOL, I love that shit! I call everyone *everything*. I'm an endearment whore through and through...

AND I'M PROUD O_O


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## Autumn Raven (Jun 28, 2011)

I rarely use terms like "baby" or "hun". 
I don't mind when others use them, I'm just not much for using them myself.

Actually, I often catch myself using terms such as these:
Doodoohead
Crazybutt
Sweet boy/girl
*****
Princess (Only when addressing a male)

But I'm not too sure you'd call these terms of endearment. 
I prefer a silly, lighthearted approach.


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## Paradox1987 (Oct 9, 2010)

I'm a Brit, so "love" is a term I use so unconsciously, so it's not something I'd use in flirtation per se. I am a big fan of:

Lovely
m'dear (m'dearie in its alter-ego)
m'darlin'

and of course;

My fair lady.


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## Dorigen (Dec 24, 2011)

I adore endearments and use them very often, personally. Most commonly, I tend to say "honey," "darling," or "dear." "Darling" is the one my boyfriend uses most often - he also uses "sweetheart" fairly regularly, and others occasionally. We also use "my love" without it sounding cheesy. Maybe. It probably does actually still sound cheesy, we just don't notice or care.


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## rednet2 (Jun 25, 2010)

For romantic partners, I tend to prefer sweetheart, and might use beautiful, sexy, etc. occasionally if I'm in a flirtatious mood.

As an added data point, I have a female INFP friend who calls everyone sweetie (that really takes some getting used to).


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## DeductiveReasoner (Feb 25, 2011)

I don't really care. I prefer something creative over something generic. Things like "babe" or "dear" aren't going to impress me.

I do like being called "Love" though, this probably stems for my weird attraction to British males.

But do not ever ever EVER call me anything beginning with "my" I am not yours. You are privileged with my presence.


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## GoodOldDreamer (Sep 8, 2011)

I usually call my SOs "love", because that's what they are to me, the embodiment of love. )


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## OffTheBooks (Jan 5, 2012)

Chrysantheist said:


> I prefer affectionate, elegant terms:
> Darling


Maybe I just listen to too much "La Dispute," but nothing plucks at my heartstrings quite like this one.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

DeductiveReasoner said:


> I do like being called "Love" though, this probably stems for my weird attraction to British males.


Haha, agreed. I normally hate pet names, but my boyfriend calls me "love" and now that you mention it, I think that I like it for the same reason.

We call each other "dear" when we're joking around and pretending to be an old married couple, he likes to call me "sunshine" in the morning (which I also weirdly find adorable), and we occasionally refer to each other as "boyfriend" or "girlfriend," but that's about it. I loathe most of the traditional ones "darling, baby, babe, sweetheart, sweetie, honey, hun," etc. Blech. I guess I prefer slightly quirkier terms of endearment.


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## WolfStar (Aug 18, 2009)

'hun' and 'sweety' are the ones I use. I've never called a girl 'babe' or anything like that.


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## Brian1 (May 7, 2011)

My Dad calls my Mom, Poops. I don't know how that got started. Grew from child to adult hearing that.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

Brian1:2034127 said:


> My Dad calls my Mom, Poops. I don't know how that got started. Grew from child to adult hearing that.


My dad calls me poopsy. I've always enjoyed it in a weird way.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

I've known a guy or two who has called me 'love'. That's one of the few I didn't mind so much... 

If I call you 'woman', you know I think fondly of you. That is reserved for my closest of female friends. 

I do, however, loathe when men call me 'dollface'. There is something a bit creepy about that...


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## GoodOldDreamer (Sep 8, 2011)

knittigan said:


> he likes to call me sunshine in the morning...


_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine! You make me happy when skies are grey! You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."

:wink:
_


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## jadedtortoise (Mar 17, 2010)

My SO & I usually make up nicknames regularly for us and our pets. Nothing saccharine, usually things like: "hey butts/bums/butts mcgee, squiggly butt, etc

Also, our cat is often "mr.mittens" and our dog (who is a senior) is "woofer-snappers"


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

GoodOldDreamer:2034427 said:


> _"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine! You make me happy when skies are grey! You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."
> 
> :wink:
> _


Pretty much. Coming from anyone else, I would take it as a tongue-in-cheek reference to my morning demeanor, but it's definitely a sappy reference to the song :wink:


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## LittleHawk (Feb 15, 2011)

I used to have a friend from London who would call me darling and I absolutely loved it, it made me feel really good about myself. However anybody from my corner of the world calling me that wouldn't come across half as romantic. It just doesn't seem as sweet when somebody calls you 'darrlin''


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## L'Empereur (Jun 7, 2010)

Autumn Raven said:


> *****



:dry:

.............


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## donkeybals (Jan 13, 2011)

Luke said:


> I like the following from that list:
> 
> daddy-mack
> 
> ...


Haha nice. I like being called "the unit" or better yet "the big unit" the problem with this is no one calls me it. So my request is for everyone on this site to call me "the unit" from now on.

Thank you that is all.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

LittleHawk said:


> I used to have a friend from London who would call me darling and I absolutely loved it, it made me feel really good about myself. However anybody from my corner of the world calling me that wouldn't come across half as romantic. It just doesn't seem as sweet when somebody calls you 'darrlin''


There are particular accents that can get away with _murder_!

Anything from the UK, Australian, Kiwi, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Punjabi, South African, anything Scandinavian, anything Slavic... I have no shame.


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## theaustinknight (Dec 29, 2011)

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE about 90% of ToE's. Hahaha. Toes.

BUT I will use "dear" or "honey" in a playful manner every now and again as if to mock my SO and I as being stodgy-old-fuddy-duddy-partners-for-life types. I also like "lieber (name)", as my SO's name starts with an L, so I get to combine two of my favorite things: German and alliteration.


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## jessaywhat (Sep 10, 2011)

i tried to be a "baby" person and i hated it. i can't say it seriously without feeling like a dork. it feels so fake unless i'm drunk and doing it. otherwise im not much of a pet name person. but what i find the most comforting when somebody i have a crush on just calls me by my name. 

right now i'm dating somebody from france and he calls me cherie, which took some getting used to considering it's another girls name but it still makes me smile. i also found that you can call a guy the same except it's cheri without the e, which is also a little strange sounding to say to your boyfriend if your not used to it haha


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## Cover3 (Feb 2, 2011)

jessaywhat said:


> i tried to be a "baby" person and i hated it. i can't say it seriously without feeling like a dork. it feels so fake unless i'm drunk and doing it. otherwise im not much of a pet name person. but what i find the most comforting when somebody i have a crush on just calls me by my name.
> 
> right now i'm dating somebody from france and he calls me cherie, which took some getting used to considering it's another girls name but it still makes me smile. i also found that you can call a guy the same except it's cheri without the e, which is also a little strange sounding to say to your boyfriend if your not used to it haha


Agreed, I speak french and 'cherie' is a word I see couples use rather frequently or bebe(babe), I just can't utter these words to anyone I love without feeling like the most kid-like idiot in the world lol, not sure if it's just shyness or abhorrence towards pet words.


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## EmpireConquered (Feb 14, 2012)

I use ass and bitch as an endearment. XP perhaps Im just fond of female dogs and butts.


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## Laney (Feb 20, 2012)

We use baby mostly. After that though we get cray-zeeee : stinky, sugar butt, sugar booger, pengpeng ( I waddled like a penguin when pregnant), stupid, daddy/mama, sir, sailor/master chief, or each other's names in fake accents. 'Hellloooooooo Duglassssss'


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## sleepyhead (Nov 14, 2011)

I'm with some of the others who have said no recycled endearments, and I also prefer more humerous things. I don't really have many for my partner, but he has endless ones for me. We also give our cat silly pet names - her name is Ketto and among other things she gets called:
ketto-pants
ketto-loaf
Ketto-face
Noodle cat
boneless cat
cat face
Cat burger
monkey-rabbit-mouse-pyjama cat

My boyfriend rarely calls me by my name and I just automatically respond to his go-to pet name. Without giving away exactly what my first name is, it's usually a variation of the following:
share-bear
despair-bear
repair-bear
ware-bear

Basically anything that rhymes with "air" and has "bear" attached to the end or something that makes absolutely no sense. I still roll my eyes sometimes, but I also think it's funny. We're very silly people.


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## geekofalltrades (Feb 8, 2012)

I use "love." Aside from that, I use the woman's actual name. It's pretty awesome; I encourage you all to try it.

EDIT: I just remembered that my first serious girlfriend called me "honey" once, and I actually stopped what I was doing and asked her not to do it again. lol


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## Master Mind (Aug 15, 2011)

I've never in my life used any terms of endearment. It annoys me when random women call me "sweetie" or some such, I'm a grown man, not a "baby," and I had to tell one woman I was in a relationship with *not* to call me "daddy" while we were in bed, because, while some men evidently find that attractive, I find it creepy, and it kills the mood for me. Please leave any Elektra complexes outside the bedroom, please. Thank you.


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## kaleidoscope (Jan 19, 2012)

I like spontaneous nicknames, ones than are created from inside jokes for example, instead of generic ones. I like earning a nickname from a boyfriend, and that one would stick with me much more. Do you know how many people get called "baby" or "sweetheart"? I prefer something more personal, that instantly reminds me of me and him, whatever that is.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

@laney
your baby is adorable! awww! he's soo cute! i just want pick him up and stroke his head! (sorry, my cutesie vocab is rather limited)

Ok,

I think I posted on this thread earlier. It was long back. Anyway, I prefer unique nicknames. I don't like being called 'dear'. Nope. I am ok with being called baby. I am accepting of most terms of endearment. I focus more on intent. I'd never call a guy honey/sweetie though. 

My partner sometimes calls me "bitch" or "my bitch" but it's only in jest. I call him a lot of colourful things, in reciprocation. A lot of the TOE I use for him are..created on the spot, are modified versions of his name for instance. I also address him with TOE from about 7 languages.

So, it's a lot of fun. My favourites are his name fused with the name of my favourite dinosaur (I am quirky like that lofl). I also like the terms "lover", baby (i use it rarely, only when I am overflowing with affection), "my tree" (he is tall), osito (teddy in spanish), chocolat noir, "my egg" (private joke), "my demon"(a reference to my favourite poem; he gets where I am coming from). Yeah, so mine are rather weird. I customize TOE to whoever I am dating. I don't have standard TOE.


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## SilentScream (Mar 31, 2011)

I primarily use Urdu terms -- but I haven't yet with my current SO, because she doesn't speak urdu. 

The words I've used are

"Meri Jan" = Literally means "My Strength" .. but most commonly accepted meaning is My life .. could loosely be taken as My strength in life

"Jan" = Life, Strength, Soulmate

"Janu" = Just another variation of the above
"Jani" = Yet another variation of the above

"Begum" = Literally means wife ... and usually used by our elder generation, but when used amongst the younger couples, it's just cute. 

"Jane-e-Man" = Another old cliche type, but depends on how it is said and which context

"Piya" = Lover in hindi

"Pyari" = Very rarely, just means beautiful. 

For non romantic relationships, I use 

"Meri Behn" = My sister
"Behna" = Another word for sister
"Jigr" = It literally means "Liver" ... but when used for friends, or lovers, it basically means something like a you're as close to me as one of my vital organs. 
"Yar" = Means friend
"Yara" = Mostly use this for female friends

Hmmm .. when it comes to English, I don't use terms of endearment at all. I think they lose their meaning after a while. Most of them are over-used, and cliche. I use a short form of my SO's first name ... and "hon" a lot. 

For me, it's not what you say, it's how you say it that matters the most.


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## DreamStepper (Feb 27, 2012)

I don't enjoy being called anything other than my name, nickname, Spanish name(Rosa), and Hope. The rest is just so generic and your current boyfriend or future can use the same name and I hate that!


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## TheOwl (Nov 3, 2010)

I have an INTJ friend that I call sweetie, dear, etc, which I only do in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Other than that, I feel really weird using these terms.


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## Enkidu (Apr 19, 2010)

DreamStepper said:


> The rest is just so generic and your current boyfriend or future can use the same name and I hate that!


More often than not, I find that I use similar sounding terms of endearment regardless of who I'm with. I never thought of that before, huh. That's a very minuscule mind blow right there. I tend to use:

'sweetheart'
'sweetie'
'baby' or 'bebe' or 'babácskám'
'chica bonita' or just 'chica'
'szépség'
'szivecském'
'szerelmem'

Besides those few, there are always nicknames that pop up over the course of the relationship.


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## Playful Proxy (Feb 6, 2012)

Ephemerald said:


> Am I alone when I say I'm annoyed by songs that have "babe" or "baby" in its lyrics?
> 
> It just seems... stupid... and most of the time it serves as a filler, not adding content. Bah!
> 
> Yes I'm totally derailing my own thread. roud:


 So...you don't like Beiber?


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## Armed Politicker (Oct 6, 2010)

I like the English hubby, big guy and oaf.

My most recent failed relationship yielded "wildman", "hunk" and "schäfer". Once I got our equivalent of "goddamn shit-for-brains", but it was affectionately meant. -Ish.


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## LQ9 (Jul 24, 2010)

Not a big user of endearments, though I don't mind bestowing/receiving a dear (although it can sound a bit "old married couple"), a dearest, a darling or a love. In general I prefer to keep endearments to moments of intimacy so they don't lose their flavor.

I'm quite open to a silly/tongue-in-cheek endearment for any occasion as long as it's not too cutesy and doesn't become my new name.

"Baby" strikes me as tacky and I'm also a bit uncomfortable being compared to an infant.

And definitely no sweetie or sweetheart, makes me think of my father, big nono.

Edit: ooh, favorites from the OP's website: apricot & main squeeze


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## LQ9 (Jul 24, 2010)

knittigan said:


> My dad calls me poopsy. I've always enjoyed it in a weird way.


My mom calls me "poopy." I just kind of roll my eyes... no idea where she gets most of the things she calls me.



knittigan said:


> he likes to call me "sunshine" in the morning


Aw... love that one. I might even be able to say it without feeling uncomfortable (as I do with most pet names)


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

LQ9 said:


> Aw... love that one. I might even be able to say it without feeling uncomfortable (as I do with most pet names)


Yeah, it's one that I really don't mind. I've since started calling *him* sunshine; between the two of us, it gets a fair bit of mileage roud:


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

*Vom*

tenchar


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## kaleidoscope (Jan 19, 2012)

Promethea said:


> *Vom*


Marry me. tenchar


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## Deathbagel (Feb 18, 2012)

As far as regular conversation goes, any sort of endearments don't really work for me (I should clarify this is hypothetical: never had an SO). Baby and sweetie are just awful from the start, not even going to bother with my negative connotations there it should be obvious. 'Darling' sounds too... old-fashioned romance-movie to me, and it immediately makes me think of the Beatles song. 'Dear' is in my mind something old people say, maybe I could use it to my wife if I was like 50. 'Love' sounds really cockney to me and... I'm not so no. 'Honey' just makes me think of... actual honey which is too much imagery for me. Plus it makes me think of 'hun' which in my head must be said in an infuriating southern drawl.

The only thing I could see myself doing would be using really formal terms semi-sarcastically (mademoiselle, miss, stuff like that). I suppose I might say 'beautiful' if I were actively flirting.

Also, I laughed SO much at most of the terms on that link. Funniest thing I've read in days.


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## Pachacutie (Aug 27, 2010)

I sort of would like to be called duckling or something like "my little turnip" in a transatlantic accent with a chortle following close behind. 

(There also needs to be a bowler hat.)


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## perfectcircle (Jan 5, 2011)

Am I one of the few who loves endearments??

Context and tone of voice matter a lot though, it depends HOW something is said. Endearments can be loving or condescending.


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## bromide (Nov 28, 2011)

I like to be called 'hey you' in bed. I'm also fond of 'urinal cakes' and 'cumdumpster'.


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## goodgracesbadinfluence (Feb 28, 2011)

I HATE being called "babe" or "baby." I find them downright insulting. I am okay with "dear" because I use that myself. 

My favourite endearment I've ever been called is "creature." Because it's not often used and I feel it's accurate.


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## geekofalltrades (Feb 8, 2012)

I'm just remembering that my mom used to call me her "little chickadee." 0.o


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## happyrain (Apr 25, 2012)

Love, Sugar-cube, Honey Boo-Boo, Silly Monkey You, Fancy (last name) Friend, Dinosaur!, Smurf, Baby Penguin - my friends
I call most adults "Miss" or "Sir."
Of course, sometimes a "Love" slips out when I'm shopping. I say it a lot...xD


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## bromide (Nov 28, 2011)

goodgracesbadinfluence said:


> My favourite endearment I've ever been called is "creature." Because it's not often used and I feel it's accurate.












PS - I <3 your AD sig.


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## goodgracesbadinfluence (Feb 28, 2011)

bromide said:


> PS - I <3 your AD sig.


bahahaha. 
thanks. ^^


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## Curiously (Nov 7, 2011)

Babe, Darling, sometimes Baby Girl.


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## chrisu (Mar 6, 2012)

none. i have a name. 
i can tolerate dear or love once in a blue moon.

mousie, baby girl and similar words for helpless, little, needy creatures are the worst.


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