“Pussycat, pussycat, I've got flowers
And lots of hours to spend time with you”—Lyrics from What’s New Pussycat, Song Performed by Tom Jones
I’ve been watching episodes of Frasier on Netflix lately. There is an episode where the character Niles is trying to figure out a term of endearment, or “pet name” to call the love of his life, Daphne. He tries everything he can think of and exhausts all options. Then, one day, he reacted to something she did and blurted out “My Love”. That became her “pet name”.
This made me start to think about the “pet names” people call each other. An article on Psychology Today’s website says they are a good sign when used between couples.
It reads on to explain the following as one of many reasons:
As couples get closer and their relationships build, the use of personal idioms and inside jokes increases. In fact, research shows that personal idiom usage is a sign of relationship solidarity.
I call my husband “Baby” sometimes. I have no idea why or when I started it. I blurted it out one day (like Niles did on Frasier) and it stuck. My husband calls me “Punky”. He said I remind him of the character Punky Brewster (from the show of the same name, she is sweet but tough), and so he went with it and it stuck.
I’m curious to know who else finds themselves calling their significant other (or child) by a term of endearment. Leave me a comment and let me know!
Read more about this topic in the article by Suzanne Degges-White, Ph.D. on Psychology Today’s website by clicking here. It details more about the use of the names between couples AND in other relationships.
Some song inspiration in case you need to lighten your day: