How Do You Spell Baby Like a Sweetheart

70 Terms of Endearment from Around the World (for Those You Love)


Let's talk well-nigh terms of endearment.

No, not the 1983 movie starring Jack Nicholson that y'all probably haven't seen (me neither). I'grand referring to the affectionate words that people utilize to address their friends and loved ones, like "sweetheart", "baby", or "beloved", "mate", "dude", or "buddy".

English has many terms of endearment. Other languages are full of them too.

In this commodity I'll list some of the more mutual and interesting terms of endearment from unlike languages and dialects effectually the globe — these include terms of endearment for lovers, and for friends.

I'll commencement by having a closer look at the English language-speaking world.

Afterward that, we'll expect at terms of endearment from other countries around the world, including translations into English language.

English Terms of Endearment

i. Baby

This is a common style to address a romantic partner (male or female). It would be weird if you said information technology to someone yous're not in a relationship with.

Sometimes this is shortened to "babe". However, "infant" is also a slang term for an attractive woman.

ii. Sweetheart

A very appreciating term for a loved one or romantic partner. "Sweetie" is also common.

3. Sugar

Some other term of endearment that plays on the theme of sweetness. As we'll see, this is a mutual theme in terms of endearment effectually the globe.

4. Dude

"Dude" is an American word that's becoming more and more mutual in English speaking countries all effectually the world. You lot can utilise it to address your male friends. Some people also utilize it to address women, although this is less common.

Incidentally, I once had the following exchange with a German friend:

Me: "Dude" is more of an American give-and-take than a British one.
Her: Just what almost that Beatles song "Hey Dude"?

American Terms of Endearment

5. Buddy

"Buddy" is an all-purpose American term of endearment, unremarkably for a male friend.

vi. Honey

Yet another sweet term of endearment, "honey" often abbreviated to "hun".

7. Son

"Son" is mutual in the American south, specially when said to a younger male person.

8. Bae

"Bae" is  an abridgement for "babe", popularised past hip-hop and R&B lyrics. It's sometimes understood to mean "before anyone else".

Fun fact: "bae" is also a Danish discussion for "poop".

British Terms of Endearment

9. Love

This is sometimes written "luv". You don't have to be in beloved with someone to use this word – it'due south a more general term of affection, usually said to a member of the reverse sexual activity.

In some parts of the U.k. people might besides call you "my love" or "my lover" – even if they're not literally your lover. Needless to say, this sounds foreign to American ears.

x. Pet

Some find find information technology weird or fifty-fifty offensive to exist called "pet", but in the northeast of England this is a common term of affection, particularly amid the older generation.

eleven. Duck

"Duck" or "my duck" is a term of endearment used in some regions of England, and especially said by older people. It'due south thought to be a mutation of the word "duke", rather than referring to the quacking bird.

Australian Terms of Endearment

12. Mate

I could have included this ane nether "British terms of Endearment", because it'southward very common in the UK as well. Merely for some reason the word "mate" is stereotypically associated with Australians, as in the classic Australian greeting "g'day mate".

xiii. Possum

A possum is a smallish marsupial mammal that's native to Australia. The word "possum" is also, strange though it may seem, a term of endearment that's native to Commonwealth of australia.

14. Cobber

Not to be confused with "copper" (police force officeholder), "cobber" is a generic Australian term of endearment that's similar in meaning to "mate".

Old-Fashioned Terms of Endearment

Terms of endearment are plainly as old every bit linguistic communication itself. For some reason, humans accept never had a big thing for calling each other by their existent names.

With that in mind, allow'south take a quick look at some (English) terms of endearment that aren't so common anymore.

xv. Swell

That'due south right: "keen" used to mean something quite unlike to what it means today.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, in the sixteenth century "dandy" was a compliment. To call someone a "great" was somewhat like calling them "darling".

Nowadays, a "bully" is someone who intimidates or exploits the weak and vulnerable. That'due south a pretty major shift in meaning!

sixteen. Cinnamon

Still another food-related term of endearment.I've never heard anyone be called "cinnamon" in real life, but information technology may have been common in the 14th century.

That'due south when Chaucer published The Canterbury Tales, which includes the post-obit snippet of dialogue:

"What do ye, honeycomb, sugariness Alisoun?
My faire bird, my sweet cinamome"

17. Chuck

Nowadays "chuck" is a verb meaning "throw", an abridgement for "woodchuck", or a male person commencement name that originated equally a nickname for "Charles".

However, in times gone by, "chuck" was also a familiar term for a romantic partner, kid, or anyone shut to y'all. It's one of many examples of a term of endearment that has fallen out of use. Although, as this article is hopefully showing you, new terms of endearment are invented as fast equally they're forgotten.

(Linguistic trivia: among U.Due south. Marines in the Vietnam War, "chuck" was a non-derogatory slang term for a white marine. The equivalent term for an African-American marine was a "splib".)

Spanish Terms of Endearment

18. Tío/Tía – "Uncle/Aunt"

Time to move on to some other language. In Spain (but non in Latin America), information technology's extremely common to address your friends every bit "tío" or "tía".

These words mean "uncle" and "aunt" respectively, but they're not exclusively for relatives. It'southward like calling someone "dude" or "mate" in English.

nineteen. -ito/ita

When I speak my native English, I sorely miss a few features that are common in other European languages. One such feature is the "diminutive" suffix.

You know how "kitty" is a cute and affectionate way of saying "cat"? In Spanish, you lot tin make the same modify to practically any noun by adding –ito (for masculine nouns) or -ita (for feminine nouns) to the end.

It's hard to give an exact translation for these suffixes. Most literally, they mean "small" – and then casa means "business firm" while and casita ways "a small business firm". Only they likewise imply familiarity and amore, and add together some unsaid actress charm to the affair y'all're describing.

Then a playful way to address your esposa (married woman) would be esposita. Better yet, you tin add together the aforementioned suffixes to someone's name – then Jorge becomes Jorgito. It'south beautiful, endearing, and common.

19. Cariño – "Darling"

Cariño is very a common discussion that yous'd use for a romantic partner. It translates roughly as "dear" or "darling".

You can apply cariño to address a homo or a adult female.

20. Bebé – "Infant"

Remember we covered the English language word "baby" earlier? In Castilian, bebé is used in the same way. Every bit in English language, it literally means "infant" – only yous can utilize it to address a loved one.

21. Cielo – "Sky"

Cielo literally ways "sky", simply you lot can call someone cielo – or mi cielo ("my sky") to limited your amore.

To make it cuter, you tin say mi cielito – an instance of the diminutives that we already discussed.

22. Dulzura – "Sweetheart"

Perhaps it should be unsurprising that terms of endearment in different languages tend to play on the same few themes. Dulzura is the Spanish word for "sweetness", and if you call someone dulzura it's like calling them "sweetheart" in English.

Equally far as I'm enlightened, there's no linguistic communication in which lovers call each other "savoury".

23. Amor – "Love"

Amor means "honey", and like in English, you tin can call a Spanish speaker mi amor – "my honey".

24. Corazón – "Heart"

Here's a lyric from the Manu Chao song me gustas tú ("I like yous"):

¿Qué hora son, mi corazón? – "What time is it, my middle?"

Chao isn't singing to his cardiac muscles: mi corazón, "my center", is another way to address a loved ane.

Mexican Terms of Endearment

25. Vato – "Guy"

Vato is a Mexican slang term for "guy", similar to tío in European Castilian.

26. Mijo/mija – "My Son/My Daughter"

Mijo and mija are contractions of mi hijo/mi hija ("my son/daughter") They're both endearing terms for a loved ane that you'll hear all throughout Fundamental and Due south America.

They're sometimes written as m'hijo and chiliad'hija. Coincidentally, the noun mijo also ways "millet" (a type of cereal.)

French Terms of Endearment

27. Mon cœur – "My heart"

Remember mi corazón in Castilian? Mon cœur in French means the same thing: "my eye". You lot can say it to someone yous're in a loving human relationship with (male or female).

Information technology's also common for French parents to say monday cœur to their children.

28. Mon amour – "My love"

Unsurprisingly, the word amour ("love") as well appears as a term of endearment. Employ monday flirtation ("my love") in the same mode you'd used mon cœur.

29. Mon bébé – "My baby"

Another term of endearment that tin can be translated directly from English (and Castilian). Monday bébé ways "my babe".

Remember that bébé, flirtation and cœur are all masculine nouns. That means you lot must e'er say mon flirtation/cœur, even if y'all're talking to a woman.

The feminine form of monday is ma, simply this word must accept the same gender as the noun being described, not the person existence referred to.

30. -et / -ette

Nosotros've also seen the Spanish diminutive suffixes -ito and -ita. French has the same concept – they call it le diminutif – except this time effectually the suffixes are -et (masculine) and -ette (feminine).

Note that the "t" in the masculine version is silent, but the "tt" in the feminine suffix is pronounced. For an example of le diminutif in activity, see the next point:

31. Mon chou – "My cabbage"

Another food-related give-and-take. But for once, this doesn't refer to a sugary treat. Monday chou literally ways… "my cabbage". Yes, French people really say this to each other.

Then, about that diminutif. Y'all tin say mon chou to a guy or a girl, merely if you desire to brand information technology cuter, change it to ma choupette. (This version can only be said to a girl.)

Other variations include monday choupinou (said to men) and ma choupinette (said to women). You can also say monday petit chou ("my trivial cabbage") to a man or young boy.

32. Mon trésor – "My treasure"

In French republic, you lot don't accept to be a pirate to intendance about treasure. Mon trésor means "my treasure", and can exist said to a man or a adult female. Recollect of information technology as like calling someone "precious".

33. Ma moitié – "My one-half"

In English, you can refer to your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend as your "other one-half" or "ameliorate half". In French, yous tin simply say ma moitié – "my one-half".

34. Mon chéri / ma chérie – "My dear"

Tin y'all think of a French speaker whom you lot cherish? If and so, maybe you should phone call them monday chéri (if they're male person) or ma chérie (if they're female). It roughly translates equally "darling" or "dearest".

Note that, despite the departure in spelling, chéri and chérie are pronounced identically.

Italian Terms of Endearment

35. Dolcezza – "Sweetness"

I hope you accept a sweet tooth, because we're far from done with the saccharide-related terms of endearment. In Italian republic you can address your lover as dolcezza – "sweetness" – only similar the Castilian word dulzura.

36. Amore – "Love"

Like the Spanish apply amor, Italians employ amore every bit a cute romantic nickname. You tin brand the term fifty-fifty stronger by maxim affection mio ("my dear").

If you want to stay in theme, y'all can use il mio innamorato (masculine) and la mia innamorata (feminine). They roughly mean "sweetheart" or "lover", although they're rather formal.

37. -ino / -ina

It's time to introduce the Italian diminutive suffixes. Like -ito and -ita in Castilian, diminutives in Italian tin exist formed with -ino (masculine) and -ina (feminine.)

Like in other languages, you can add these suffixes to someone's proper name – or you can utilise them to make a regular "sweet" word sound more endearing, as in some of the post-obit examples:

38. Fragolina – "Trivial strawberry"

"Honey", "sugar", "sweetheart", and at present another sugary word: in Italy the give-and-take fragolina ("little strawberry") is used as a term of endearment. Information technology's the diminutive form of fragola.

39. Stella/stellina – "Star"

Stella is more than just a brand of beer – it's the Italian word for "star", and a term of endearment y'all tin call your Italian lover.

40-42. Tesoro/Cuore Mio/Amore Mio – "Treasure/My Centre/My Dear"

We've seen these before in other languages:

  • Tesoro – "treasure"
  • Cuore mio – "my center"
  • Amore mio – "my beloved"

Use them like you would in the languages already mentioned in a higher place.

43. Microbino mio – "My petty microbe"

Now this is i we definitely oasis't seen earlier! In Italian you can affectionately call someone microbino mio – "my niggling microbe".

Foreign though it may seem, this is a real term of endearment in Italian.

German Terms of Endearment

44. Schatz – "Treasure"

By far the near common term of endearment in German is Schatz, which literally means… "treasure", nonetheless over again.

Remember that nouns in High german are always capitalised, and then Schatz is written with a upper-case letter "S" even when it's not at the start of a sentence.

45. -chen / -lein

Once again, German has diminutive suffixes that can exist added to any substantive or someone'south proper noun.

In Spanish, you had to pick the correct diminutive ending to match the substantive's gender. German doesn't quite work like that.

Retrieve that High german has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Regardless of a substantive'due south gender, you can add -chen or -lein to the cease.

There's no real difference in significant, but -chen is more common. This now changes the give-and-take's gender to neuter, if it wasn't already.

Y'all commonly need to stick an umlaut onto the new word too – then der Hund (the dog) becomes das Hündchen (the little domestic dog, the doggy.) Note that nosotros now use das instead of der because the gender has changed from masculine to neuter.

Alles klar? Once again, you can use the diminutive class of someone's name to audio more endearing. For example, someone chosen "Fritz" could be referred to as "Fritzchen".

(Incidentally, you know the grapheme "Piddling Johnny" who appears in many jokes in English language? In High german the same type of jokes are told nigh a boy called Klein Fritzchen – "Little Fritzie".)

46. Liebling – "Favourite"

The nigh literal translation of Liebling is "favourite", but if yous accost someone every bit Liebling, it can also mean something like "darling" or "dear".

The clue is in the first syllable – Liebe ways "honey".

Here we go once more. Süss in German is an adjective meaning "sweet". Would yous be surprised if I told y'all it tin can too exist used equally a term of endearment?

The catch is that to use süss in this mode, you take to turn it into a noun. Say Süsse to a woman and Süsser to a man.

48. Maus – "Mouse"

The German discussion Maus is pronounced very similarly to its English language translation: "mouse". Simply it doesn't just refer to rodents and/or estimator clothes – Maus is a common term of endearment that a man might say to his wife or girlfriend.

You can also say Maus to a modest child – although in this case information technology's more than common to use the diminutive, Mäuschen.

49. Perle – "Pearl"

You may have noticed that well-nigh of these terms of endearment fall into the same few categories. Behind "sugary nutrient" and "cute animals", the tertiary most pop trope is "valuable objects".

In the latter category, nosotros've already seen Schatz. A similar German term of endearment is Perle, significant "pearl". Phone call someone your "pearl" or your "treasure" – information technology's definitely a compliment.

While Schatz is mutual all over Germany, Perle is a particular favourite in the Ruhr Valley.

fifty. Hase – "Bunny"

Dorsum to the beautiful animals. Hase means "bunny", and in Germany you don't have to be a Playboy to phone call your sweetheart by this proper name.

Hase is more commonly used for women than for men. The diminutive, Häschen, also works well.

Of class, we can't talk almost High german without looking at some compound nouns.

German is famous for its long words, formed by mashing nouns and adjectives together where in English we'd separate them with a space.

Here are a few such compound nouns that you might hear used to address a loved ane:

  • Knuddelbärchen – "caress bear"
  • Mausebär – "mouse conduct"
  • Mausezähnchen – "niggling mouse tooth"
  • Honigkuchenpferd – "honey-block equus caballus"

Yep, all of these words really be – that's German for you.

Russian Terms of Endearment

55. Милая моя / милый мой – "Sweetie"

Another sugary term of endearment. Милая моя and милый мой mean "sweetie"; say the former to a woman and the latter to a homo.

You can also say любимая моя (f.) and любимый мой (m.) to hateful "sweetheart."

56. солнышко моё – "My little dominicus"

If your lover burns brightly in the sky in a higher place you, phone call them солнышко моё – "my little sun".

Other gender-neutral terms of endearment in Russian include радость моя ("my joy"), ангел мой ("my angel"), жизнь моя ("my life") and душа моя ("my soul").

57. котёнок – "Kitten"

This word ways "kitten", and can be used equally a term of endearment to a man or a woman. Yous could besides call them котик, which is the atomic form of "cat".

Irish Terms of Endearment

58. Mo Chuisle – "My Pulse"

Y'all may recognise this term of endearment from the movie Million Dollar Baby. It means "my pulse", and it'southward a shortened class of a chuisle mo chroí ("pulse of my centre")."

You can also call someone mo chroí ("my eye")

59. A Leanbh – "My Kid"

This one literally means "my kid." In Irish songs, it often gets transcribed as "alanna".

lx. Mo Stoirín – "My Trivial Darling"

This means "my little darling". "Stór" is the Irish word for "darling", and changing it to "stoirín" makes it diminutive, and thus more appreciating.

Mo mhuirnín is too similar in pregnant to mo stoirín, and can be used to mean "my darling" or "my sweetheart"

Another version is mo mhuirnín dílis, which ways something like "my own truthful love" or "my faithful darling".

61. Wee

This ane isn't from Irish gaelic, simply from Irish English, AKA Hiberno English language, the dialect of English language that's spoken in Republic of ireland.

We've already looked at diminutives in many other languages. As we seen, they can be a cute and fun way to change words. Sadly, English doesn't have diminutives – at to the lowest degree not in nigh of its dialects.

In Ireland, however, in that location is a kind of diminutive – the word "wee". You can stick "wee" in front a noun – east.k. "the wee infant" or "the wee girl" – and it functions roughly like e.one thousand. the "-ito/-ita" suffix that we've already seen in Spanish.

"Wee" is likewise unremarkably used this way in Scotland.

Korean Terms of Endearment

62. 애인 (ae-in) – "Sweetheart"

애인 is a mutual gender-neutral term of endearment in Korean that roughly translates every bit "sweetheart".

63. 여보 (yeo-bo) – "Darling"

If you're married, you lot can say 여보 to your married man or wife. Information technology means "darling" or "honey".

Some other terms of endearment you could use for a female person lover (whether or non yous're married) are 공주님 (gong-ju-nim, "princess") or 우 리강아지 (u-ri gang-a-ji, "my puppy")

A discussion you could use for your boyfriend or hubby is 왕자님 (wang-ja-nim), which ways "prince".

64. 오빠 (o-ppa)

Traditionally, 오빠 is a polite word that a woman might say to her older male friends or to an older blood brother. Increasingly, still, information technology'due south used every bit a romantic term of endearment from a woman to her husband or fellow.

Japanese Terms of Endearment

Are terms of endearment really used in Japan? Non in the sense you might be used to from the rest of this article.

If you look up words like "darling" or "sweetheart" in an English-Japanese lexicon, you'll detect entries like ダーリン (darling) and スイートハート (sweetheart).

But these aren't real translations – they're merely the original English language words transliterated into Katakana. You'd get funny looks if you lot used them in Japan in the aforementioned way they're used in English language.

So how tin can yous express affection or at least familiarity in Japanese? One fashion is to utilize the right "honorific". These are suffixes similar "-san" or "-kun" that get added to the cease of someone's name.

In English language you lot might address someone as "Mr. Smith"; in Japanese yous would call him "Smith-san".

"-San" is used in formal and polite situations, then it's inappreciably a term of endearment. Ii mutual informal honorifics, on the other hand, are "-chan" (used more often for females) and "-kun" (used more oft for males). You tin can utilise these with your friends and relatives.

If you really desire to express amore, however, a more mutual approach in Japanese is to requite someone a nickname, every bit explained here:

Say the proper name of this other person is Natsuko Yamamoto. When I first run into her, I might call her Yamamoto-san. The utilise of the last name and the suffix would testify that I maintain a proper distance (and respect) for her. If I'm a school friend with her, I would start calling her Yama-chan (more informal suffix) or Natsuko-san (first name is for more closer relationship.) If I'thousand a really skilful friend with her, this might further change to, say, Nacchi.

And for the kind of relationship where one could say "my love", I'd come up upwardly with another name altogether. Oft it still has some sound of original name left, like maybe Naah or Kocco, but it could also be completely unrelated phonetically and come from some shared experience only she and I would know. One usually proceed this class of names secret from other people, and to do so, they are non used in front end of other people.

Equally you can see, Japanese does things differently from the other languages on this list!

Portuguese Terms of Endearment

66. -inho/inha

One time again, Portuguese has a system of diminutives. Where Spanish uses -ito and -ita, Portuguese uses -inho and -inha for masculine and feminine nouns (or names) respectively.

So if someone is called Amanda, you could affectionately address them as "Amandinha". Or "Felipe" could become "Felipinho".

If the word ends in a stressed vowel, put a "z" before the suffix – so for example "João" would become "Joãozinho".

67. Amigão – "Big Friend"

So far nosotros've seen many diminutives in many different languages. A absurd feature of Portuguese is that information technology also has the opposite of diminutives, called augmentatives.

Where the diminutive version of a noun implies smallness, the augmentative version implies bigness. So for instance, while livro ways "book", livrão ways "big book".

The augmentative suffix for masculine nouns or names is "-ão". Feminine words utilize "-ona".

And like diminutives, augmentatives tin can be used to make a word audio more than appreciating.

And then while amigo means friend, and you tin can certainly address someone as amigo, you lot could besides telephone call them amigão. It means "big friend", but don't think nearly besides difficult – the person doesn't take to literally be big. It'south only a friendly, endearing style to phone call someone your amigo.

68.-70. Alemão/Polaco/Negão

Finally, some words that are commonly used in Brazil, strange though they may seem to a native English language speaker.

If you're a stake-skinned gringo like me, travel to Brazil and you might hear people calling you Alemão ("German") or Polaco ("Pole"). No-i is making an assumption nigh your nationality – these are just common, friendly ways in Brazil to address someone with light skin.

(Note that the "-ão" in "Alemão" isn't an augmentative; it's just part of the normal, unaltered give-and-take. The augmentative version would be "Alemãozão")

In a similar vein, a friendly way to address a black male person in Brazil is "negão", which roughly translates equally "big black guy".

Despite the English give-and-take which it sounds like, negão is generally considered to be inoffensive (although of grade y'all might offend someone if you said it in an plain hostile tone.) Y'all can hear the characters address each other every bit negão, for example, in the classic Brazilian movie Cidade de Deus (Metropolis of God).


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George Julian

Content Writer, Fluent in three Months

George is a polyglot, linguistics nerd and travel enthusiast from the U.K. He speaks 4 languages and has dabbled in some other five, and has been to more than 40 countries. He currently lives in London.

Speaks: English language, French, Spanish, German, Vietnamese, Portuguese

View all posts by George Julian

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Source: https://www.fluentin3months.com/terms-of-endearment/

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