Sweetie! Darling! Love! Boo-boo! Snookums! Shudder, guffaw and pass the insulin. There is nothing so sweet and compulsive as the first time your mate calls you a pet name. No matter how odd the nickname or how endearing it is, when your mate is comfortable enough with you to crown you with a nickname, it makes you feel special.
It’s amazing what a little phrase of affection can do. Now there are simply some people who pass around endearments with the ease of how they smile. They are quick, warm platitudes that they give as willingly to someone they just met as to those they’ve known for years. But when they say it to their mate or their partner, it takes on a whole new depth of meaning. Maybe your dad calls you sweetie and your mom calls you honey, but the first time your significant other calls you either one, you get this little warm feeling deep down.
Sure, there are a handful of less than original pet names: sugar, honey, sweet pea, princess, prince, and sweetheart, handsome, beautiful, baby and darling. But that doesn’t make them mean any less coming from the person you care about and who cares about you. But funnier nicknames, ones that actually have meaning or an ‘in-joke’ involved are just as lovely: squirt, two-toes, nobbly knees – do they sound a bit insulting? That’s the beauty of a pet name – even the most innocuous phrases can sound endearing.
Pet names aren’t a commitment, although some people feel like one exists –even a non-verbal one, as soon as pet names come into play. While for some people, the pet names don’t begin until that level of commitment has been achieved, don’t let it prevent you from using them if it rolls off the tongue. It makes your partner feel good – and a smile is worth any number of words.