What Is In A Name
Couples love to use terms of endearment for each other, in every language and culture throughout the world. A romantic nickname implies an intimacy and friendship that is set apart from the way you interact with other people. Naturally, the correct answer to which nickname is best is something that only you and your lover can answer. Here’s something I got off a site:
*Giving your special someone a pet name, gives you sole authority to call him or her the same. Couples agree that using special names for each other brings an air of informality and closeness in the relationship, while simultaneously making their emotions for each other stronger. Girls, often tend to use names that have no meaning and are just syllables, but which are cute sounding to the ears. Guys, on the other hand, tend to just shorten the names of their partners and use that as a nick name, or stick to the more conventional ‘darling’, or ‘sweetheart’.
This thing about pet names or should I call them ‘special names’ or names for that ‘special person’ …well that’s what they used to be, is that they are no longer that. I remember the days when a guy giving you a special name meant so much. It meant he had put a stamp on you, you shared something ‘special’ and he had professed his intentions of his want of intimacy with you. It was considered as one of the steps towards first base…well that’s what I used to think.
Now being called ‘babe’, ‘boo’ or even ‘honey’ means absolutely nothing. Guys now find it a little too easy to call any girl, “special names”. I know Thetoolsman has written about this several times but it’s like the effort being put into building a romance has been thrown out of the window. Don’t even get me started with butterflies in your tummy and all that jazz. The idea of romance is now ancient history to most but today, I’d just like to focus on the importance of a pet name for that special person.
Pet names have a history eventhough as at the time of writing this I couldn’t come up with the facts, I’m sure some of you can imagine Eve calling Adam ‘A.D’, Dammy or erm.. you get the idea. It really doesn’t matter how it sounds, it’s meant to be cute, maybe even silly but most importantly, personal. How do you call your girlfriend/wife boo, babe, honey, sweetheart and then call a girl that you barely know the same names? And I’m not attacking guys here because nowadays, women are just as guilty. We throw around words like ‘dear’ and ‘darling’ so much, they don’t even hold any meaning. What form of endearment is a guy supposed to feel when you refer to him and your family help with that same word ‘darling’.
Ok, I have rambled on enough. Why are we here today? Well, I want us to comment on what I’ve written, do you think pet names are still relevant? Should we even bother with them? But before you answer, how about a little exercise? Before you drop your answer to my question, please state your current pet name for your ‘lover’ and what he/she calls you. And if you’re currently single like some of us, a little bit of imagination is allowed, what would you like to be called and what would you call him/her? You know what to do, see you in the comment section.
PS: Should we also consider ‘bedroom’ conversations when picking pet names?
About the Author
Sheila Jack of all trades, master of all... When I am not here, you'll find me at www.sheilaspeaks.com and on twitter as @Mxscharles.
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I have a question about actual names:
What do you do if you like someone, but you don't like their name?
Actual names are important to me. Its important what they mean and how they sound in my head, in conversation, and during sex. I find myself avoiding calling people by their names when I don't like the name, which creates a gap I don't appreciate.
What to do?
@Max, That is very weird n unusual. If u dont like ppl enuf to accept their name then enuf said no need to continue
I dont agree with Amebo. People have little control over heir names (at least till they're 18) but that has very little if any at all, to do with their person.
If you really 'like' this person, I suggest you open up to them. But be gentle about it, you never know, the name could mean something more to the person. If you dont think they'll budge, then just pick a nice 'pet name' for the person and keep using it till it sticks.
Cheers, sir. I'll give it a go.
another trick is to find out if they have a better sounding second, third, fourth, (ad infinitum) name… i think it'd feel special that you took the time to learn other names and you like it too…
I dont have a special name for my bf. He sometimes call me bu my full. Which no one else does.
My frn though has the most unusual pet name for her bf. She callz him Rhino, and donkey kong. They call each other poopa (yep as in poo!). Something to do with diarheea during a holiday. I think it is cute that they can make a nick name out of that. So romantic. I have decided to start calling my bf shit head, not sure how to present it to him.
shit head ke? una dey fight? hahhahahahhah anyways if both of you approve, then why not.
@Laydeelarz, I literarily burst into laughter. Classic.
Ơ̴̴̴̴͡h my days!!! L̃̾Õ☺Õ̾Ô=D:D=));)ÕÔ☺ÔÕ̾L.. I can’t stop laughing….absolutely classic!!!
He calls me sunshine,I call him caramel :-)
this issue sha..
I called my first bf Temi so much that my friends started calling him temi too. which was kindda annoying. he called me baby sha only called my first name when he wanted to say something very serious. i kindda wished he would call me something more than baby though but then…
now, i call my bf "B" or "babe" his special name is "sugar" and "nkem" actually but i just dont say it as often as i text it sha. but that is how i save his name on my phone… i don't really feel guilty about this because he calls me "baby" and refers to me with his friends as "fd"… sometimes i wonder if i am supposed to tell him i want him to get creative and call me something else…
The best nickname I've ever been given is 'my Knight'. . . #bestuseofdetergent_ever.
The Poopa story just buttresses the point further that when a nickname is birthed from an experience only you two have shared, it just alludes a 'special sometins'.
Be it 'PowerPuff', 'Mandingo', 'ChuChu', '…MEAN B*TCH', 'Baby-Geh'.
Buh if it means dat much 2 any couple you can start off with a template Dear/Dearie, Sugar/Cubes match up and wait 4 ur moment, the substitution will take place on it's own.
He was my "sweetness'', i taught it portrayed d essence he brought into my life. he called me ''baby'' with that tone!!! he could have called me poo with that tone and i would still love it.
Whatever works for a couple
D noblest question in d world is: What good may I do in it? #AdoptATweep #BYOD More details http://wp.me/p263gW-2R
Another frn had a fight with her bf, so she change his name to idiot on her phone. They resolved their fight but she never changed it cuz twas funny. One day he was with her so he called his phone cuz he couldnt find it. He was surprised when idiot came up on her phone.
He had a cute name for her in his phone but was upset tht he got idiot.
@Laydeelarz, With all these in place u can sc my reluctance to pet names
LMAO. why did this make me laugh so hard.
I'm really guilty of this.I call people "special" names cuz I see it as a sign of endearment and I don't see anything wrong wiv it.
I call my boyfriend 'SUGAR' but he annoyed me today so I put up a friends picture whose birthday is today and wrote '' happy birthday sugar'"
Immature, underhanded and sneaky right? I knoooow
Please I need responses from guys, if your girlfriend did that, how would you feel?
I call my partner by his full Yoruba name most times, I love the way it sounds and I'm mostly the only one who calls him that (apart from my family and close friends)
I sometimes call him "Babe" but usually very casually … Like "Babe can you pass the remote"
but yeah… :)
I really love this topic of discussion.
I belong to the school of thought that believes in the appropriate use of pet names. Unfortunately, in today's world, it has been made a ridicule of. I get to initiate some business transactions via bbm and I find it absolutely ridiculous when someone I barely know and vice-versa begin to introduce pet names into the business conversation….c'mon!!! That just winds me up…to be honest!
As a result of the 'misuse' of pet names in general, I'd rather call my significant other by the first letter of their name or better still, a name coined from an exclusive experience between us…private joke as it were :-)
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Lol this post reminds me of my ex. We once argued about this issue. He wanted to know what I saved his number as, little did he know that I didn’t even save his number on my phone at all. When I told him he felt really bad and angry because he saved my number as ‘first lady’ lol. I felt really special and I had to explain that I know his number by heart and I don’t just save some people’s numbers for instance my mum’s name isn’t saved on my phone.
Those were the days tho. Now no one calls me any special name :(
Unsure hey it depends if its another guy u called..anyhow sha he won’t be happy abt it..buh it will make him knw wah he did was serious
behind the names, lets check the heart. only through the actions can you discern.
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Special names… i really dont bother myself abt it… she can call me want you want… and I call her whatever I like… It’s that easy…
I call my man KISA, Knight In Shining Armor. Its intimate and funny cos almost evri1 thinks d letters stand 4 his full name. He calls me My Lady or Temi and I love it.