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Mar 28, 2024 · If you love pet names and other endearing terms as much as we do, then you’ll fall in love with this quiz about terms of endearment. See if you can get a perfect score and prove you are a real language Lothario!
But what other popular terms of endearment are used by speakers of other languages around the world? Before we share a few words used in affection as a part of this terms of endearment list, let’s take a step back and look at just what these words are.
- English Terms of Endearment
- American Terms of Endearment
- British Terms of Endearment
- Australian Terms of Endearment
- Old-Fashioned Terms of Endearment
- Spanish Terms of Endearment
- Mexican Terms of Endearment
- French Terms of Endearment
- German Terms of Endearment
- Korean Terms of Endearment
1. Baby
This is a common way to address a romantic partner (male or female). It would be weird if you said it to someone you’re not in a relationship with. Sometimes this is shortened to “babe”. However, “babe” is also a slang term for an attractive woman.
2. Sweetheart
A very affectionate term for a loved one or romantic partner. “Sweetie” is also common.
3. Sugar
Another term of endearment that plays on the theme of sweetness. As we’ll see, this is a common theme in terms of endearment around the world.
5. Buddy
“Buddy” is an all-purpose American term of endearment, usually for a male friend.
6. Honey
Yet another sweet term of endearment, “honey” often abbreviated to “hun”.
7. Son
“Son” is common in the American south, especially when said to a younger male.
9. Love
This is sometimes written “luv”. You don’t have to be in love with someone to use this word – it’s a more general term of affection, usually said to a member of the opposite sex. In some parts of the UK people might also call you “my love” or “my lover” – even if they’re not literally your lover. Needless to say, this sounds strange to American ears.
10. Pet
Some find it weird or even offensive to be called “pet”, but in the northeast of England this is a common term of affection, especially among the older generation.
11. Duck
“Duck” or “my duck” is a term of endearment used in some regions of England, and especially said by older people. It’s thought to be a mutation of the word “duke”, rather than referring to the quacking bird.
12. Mate
I could have included this one under “British terms of Endearment”, because it’s very common in the UK as well. But for some reason the word “mate” is stereotypically associated with Australians, as in the classic Australian greeting “g’day mate”.
13. 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 Australia.
14. Cobber
Not to be confused with “copper” (police officer), “cobber” is a generic Australian term of endearment that’s similar in meaning to “mate”.
Terms of endearment are apparently as old as language itself. For some reason, humans have never had a big thing for calling each other by their real names. With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at some (English) terms of endearment that aren’t so common anymore.
Oh, Spanish, romance and romantic language. Do you know how to share the love and say “I love you” in Spanish?
25. Vato – “Guy”
Vato is a Mexican slang term for “guy”, similar to tíoin European Spanish.
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 one that you’ll hear all throughout Central and South America. They’re sometimes written as m’hijo and m’hija. Coincidentally, the noun mijoalso means “millet” (a type of cereal.)
For many people, French means France, and France means Paris… The city of love! If you’re into being romantic in French, check out this post on how to say “my love” in French. When you’re done, come back here to discover more French terms of endearment!
35. Schatz – “Treasure”
By far the most common term of endearment in German is Schatz, which literally means… “treasure”, yet again. Remember that nouns in German are always capitalised, so Schatzis written with a capital “S” even when it’s not at the beginning of a sentence.
36. -chen / -lein
Once again, German has diminutive suffixes that can be added to any noun or someone’s name. In Spanish, you had to pick the right diminutive ending to match the noun’s gender. German doesn’t quite work like that. Recall that German has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Regardless of a noun’s gender, you can add -chen or -leinto the end. There’s no real difference in meaning, but -chenis more common. This now changes the word’s gender to neuter, if it wasn’t already. You usually...
37. Liebling – “Favourite”
The most literal translation of Liebling is “favourite”, but if you address someone as Liebling, it can also mean something like “darling” or “dear”. The clue is in the first syllable – Liebemeans “love”.
Sharing love in Korean is a bit tricky: you need to know how to do it right. However, there are plenty of nice terms of endearment to use once you know how to do that appropriately.
While you might be blushing at U.S. terms like sweetie and sugar, how would you like to be called "ugly one" in Europe? We're traveling all around the world with these global terms of endearment! Can you figure out their meaning?
- Jouviane Alexandre
Terms of endearment. Words that used with partners, children and other loved ones in a variety of languages. Chinese (Mandarin) Cornish; Danish; French; Icelandic (Skilmálar) Irish (Téarmaí Muirnéise) Italian; Kadazandusun; Manx (Ennymyn ennoilid) Polish; Russian, Scottish Gaelic; Welsh (Geiriau tyner / anwes) Links. Terms of endearment ...
Feb 14, 2015 · To improve your chances this year, we’ve put together this list of terms of endearment from around the world. 1. Portuguese Brazilian: “chuchuzinho”. Chuchu is the Portuguese word for chayote squash, but is also used to describe a pretty or attractive person.
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Feb 10, 2016 · I asked native speakers of 20 languages for some of the most common endearment terms used among couples in their languages. Here they are, standing under different names and voices, speaking...
