Sweetie, Honey, Sugarplum, SNOOKUMS???

It is typically Bermudian to use endearments with complete strangers.

At work I'm frequently called darling, babe, doll, angel, sweetheart, sugar, honey and toots, to name a few. Most of the people using them, and it's women as well as men, don't even realise they're using the term.

Evidenced by an American coworker who offended more than one customer by correcting them, rather rudely, when they called her by whatever they'd used.

About the only thing I really dislike being called is 'wifey' which my husband doesn't use. He prefers things like dragon.

I long ago figured that it doesn't matter what someone calls you, what matters is the intent behind it.

Like everything, it depends on the context and tone. I'm a horrible b!tch sometimes and will use 'dear', 'honey' or 'sweetie' with nasty condescension dripping off every syllable, BUT I will also use those endearments with genuine affection. My ex (who was a girl) and I would sometimes get into the sappy 'honeybee', 'pumpkin', 'sweetling', etc, but with my boyfriend we stick to babe/baby, love(r), hon, things like that. I've called close friends 'honey' or 'sweetie' before, especially when my Mother Hen-ing starts.

My best friend's fiancee calls him "lovecake", which I snort at every time I hear it.

I think the key to enjoying pet names is realizing they're all very much tongue-in-cheek, and not derogatory unless used with intense sarcasm.

If I am eating out, and a waitress calls me Honey, Sweetie, or any other such name, she has just discounted her tip by half! I cannot stand when servers do that. As for at home, the occasional use of it is okay, but not as a replacement for someones name!

this makes perfect sense. i mean even if a waitress tends to my every need, makes sure i have everything, checks in with me and my wife, gets us refills regularly, and even provides witty banter - the mere utterance of a "honey" (it is one of the most hostile acts one can have towards another person) will cause me to give her no tip, and probably find her car and slash her tires.


it's the very least she deserves.

amirite?

My husband calls me 'Ole Lady' he thinks he funny because he's older than I am....what a goof lol :ohwell:

I hate being called studmuffin.

If I am eating out, and a waitress calls me Honey, Sweetie, or any other such name, she has just discounted her tip by half! I cannot stand when servers do that. As for at home, the occasional use of it is okay, but not as a replacement for someones name!

this makes perfect sense. i mean even if a waitress tends to my every need, makes sure i have everything, checks in with me and my wife, gets us refills regularly, and even provides witty banter - the mere utterance of a "honey" (it is one of the most hostile acts one can have towards another person) will cause me to give her no tip, and probably find her car and slash her tires.


it's the very least she deserves.

amirite?

Exactly!

I live in the south and waitresses call me honey, sweetie and darlin' all the time. I can't even understand being offended by that.

My husband calls me baby, baby doll or lover. I call him babe, sweetie or honey. To be honest, we went through a real rocky period a year or so ago and that's one of the things I had noticed, we had stopped using pet names for each other. Once we worked through that tough time, we were back to using them.

I don't see why people take such offense to it....maybe just the world of political correctness
Names like babe, hun, darlin, & doll carry little weight when I'm saying them b/c I say them to everyone - male & female.

I have family that still call me doll baby b/c that was my late grandmother's nickname for me - all her grandkids had a different nickname.

While waitressing once I let a 'hun' slip and the customer did go out of their way to correct me. I apologized for offending him and said I didn't even realize I had said it b/c I say it to everyone. I had apparently called his wife hun too.
He did leave a sh!tty tip even though I had done a great job otherwise and his wife snuck back to the table and left more ha ha she also apologized for the stick up her husband's *kitten*

From a stranger HATE it! Especially when it's when I'm getting my car fixed.

From a partner," Your highness" will suffice.

:huh: Am I the only one here who hates it when pretty much *any* pet names are used for me? I know some of you have mentioned being southern -- so am I, but I never use honey, darlin, etc. Although, I know plenty of people around here who use those terms for pretty much everyone.

I mean, I don't go out of my way to correct people or leave waitresses bad tips because of it or anything...but I do find pet names very annoying :ohwell:

"Babe" and "baby" are especially annoying. "Love" is really the only one that doesn't get under my skin too badly.

I love pet names. I'm corny like that.

some of the nick names are silly and some i enjoy hearing

I like them all haha...my favorite would have to be being called baby, babygirl or love.

I lived in Baltimore for HS and College, so I'm used to being called "hon" by strangers. I also live in the South now, so small terms of endearment aren't uncommon (at least in my small town). But, it's time and place. I'm a graphic designer and the owner of one of my clients calls me "baby" and "sweetheart" all the time and it just grates on me. Luckily, I don't deal with him directly or don't see him much. I'm not 100% sure he even knows my name. But, whatever- it's not worth fighting over for a once-a-month, 3-second pass in a hallway. But a waiter or cashier throwing out a "darlin" or a "sweetie" doesn't bother me.

I've put a stop to people calling me everything from sweetcheeks to kiddo (my father was the only one allowed to use "kiddo," thanks) in a professional or academic situation.