A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address or describe a person, animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection. Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their children and lovers addressing each other.
Each term of endearment has its own connotations, which are highly dependent on the situation they are used in, such as tone of voice, body language, and social context. Saying "Hey baby, you're looking good" varies greatly from the use "Baby, don't swim at the deep end of the pool!" Certain terms can be perceived as offensive or patronizing, depending on the context and speaker.[1]
Feminists have complained that while 'terms of endearment are words used by close friends, families, and lovers...they are also used on women by perfect strangers...double standard' – because 'between strangers terms of endearment imply a judgment of incompetence on the part of the target'.[2] Others have pointed out however that, in an informal setting like a pub, 'the use of terms of endearment here was a positive politeness strategy. A term like "mate", or "sweetie", shifts the focus of the request away from its imposition...toward the camaraderie existing between interlocutors'.[3]
Terms of endearment often 'make use of internal rhyme...[with] still current forms such as lovey-dovey, which appeared in 1819, and honey bunny',[4] or of other duplications.
Terms of endearment can lose their original meaning over the course of time: thus for example 'in the early twentieth century the word crumpet was used as a term of endearment by both sexes', before diminishing later into a 'term of objectification'[5] for women.
When proper names escape one, terms of endearment can always substitute. This is described by the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan: The 'opacity of the ejaculations of love, when, lacking a signifier to name the object of its epithalamium, it employs the crudest trickery of the imaginary. "I'll eat you up....Sweetie!" "You'll love it...Rat!".[6]
Psychiatrist Eric Berne identified the marital game of "Sweetheart", where 'White makes a subtly derogatory remark about Mrs White, disguised as anecdote, and ends: "Isn't that right, sweetheart?" Mrs. White tends to agree...because it would seem surly to disagree with a man who calls one "sweetheart" in public'.[7] Berne points out that 'the more tense the situation, and the closer the game is to exposure, the more bitterly is the word "sweetheart" enunciated'; while the wife's antithesis is either 'to reply: "Yes, honey!"' or to 'respond with a similar "Sweetheart" type anecdote about the husband, saying in effect, "You have a dirty face too, dear"'.[8]
Latin Terms of Endearment and of Family Relationship: A Lexicographical Study Based on Volume VI of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; By Samuel Glenn Harrod, 1909, University of Michigan.
A Woman's Place: Rhetoric and Readings for Composing Yourself and Your Prose by Shirley Morahan, Published by SUNY Press, 1981, ISBN0-87395-488-2, ISBN978-0-87395-488-4.
The Cambridge French-English Thesaurus by Marie-Noëlle Lamy, Richard Towell, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN0-521-42581-6, ISBN978-0-521-42581-0.
Nicknames, Pet Names, and Metaphors Casnig, John D. 1997–2009. A Language of Metaphors. Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Knowgramming.com
February 16, 2024
term, endearment, this, article, about, phrase, film, terms, endearment, other, uses, terms, endearment, disambiguation, term, endearment, word, phrase, used, address, describe, person, animal, inanimate, object, which, speaker, feels, love, affection, terms, . This article is about the phrase For the film see Terms of Endearment For other uses see Terms of Endearment disambiguation A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address or describe a person animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons such as parents addressing their children and lovers addressing each other Contents 1 Usage 2 See also 3 References 4 Further readingUsageEach term of endearment has its own connotations which are highly dependent on the situation they are used in such as tone of voice body language and social context Saying Hey baby you re looking good varies greatly from the use Baby don t swim at the deep end of the pool Certain terms can be perceived as offensive or patronizing depending on the context and speaker 1 Feminists have complained that while terms of endearment are words used by close friends families and lovers they are also used on women by perfect strangers double standard because between strangers terms of endearment imply a judgment of incompetence on the part of the target 2 Others have pointed out however that in an informal setting like a pub the use of terms of endearment here was a positive politeness strategy A term like mate or sweetie shifts the focus of the request away from its imposition toward the camaraderie existing between interlocutors 3 Terms of endearment often make use of internal rhyme with still current forms such as lovey dovey which appeared in 1819 and honey bunny 4 or of other duplications Terms of endearment can lose their original meaning over the course of time thus for example in the early twentieth century the word crumpet was used as a term of endearment by both sexes before diminishing later into a term of objectification 5 for women When proper names escape one terms of endearment can always substitute This is described by the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan The opacity of the ejaculations of love when lacking a signifier to name the object of its epithalamium it employs the crudest trickery of the imaginary I ll eat you up Sweetie You ll love it Rat 6 Psychiatrist Eric Berne identified the marital game of Sweetheart where White makes a subtly derogatory remark about Mrs White disguised as anecdote and ends Isn t that right sweetheart Mrs White tends to agree because it would seem surly to disagree with a man who calls one sweetheart in public 7 Berne points out that the more tense the situation and the closer the game is to exposure the more bitterly is the word sweetheart enunciated while the wife s antithesis is either to reply Yes honey or to respond with a similar Sweetheart type anecdote about the husband saying in effect You have a dirty face too dear 8 See alsoDiminutive Hypocorism NicknameReferences Stop using dearie nurses told BBC News November 26 2008 Retrieved November 26 2008 Alette Olin Hill Mother Tongue Father Time 1986 p 86 and p 90 1 Jose Santaemilia ed Genero 2003 p 194 Mark Steven Morton The Lover s Tongue 2003 p 50 Morton p 55 Jacques Lacan Ecrits A Selection 1997 p 183 Eric Berne Games People Play Penguin 1966 p 94 Berne p 94 5Further readingLatin Terms of Endearment and of Family Relationship A Lexicographical Study Based on Volume VI of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum By Samuel Glenn Harrod 1909 University of Michigan A Woman s Place Rhetoric and Readings for Composing Yourself and Your Prose by Shirley Morahan Published by SUNY Press 1981 ISBN 0 87395 488 2 ISBN 978 0 87395 488 4 The Cambridge French English Thesaurus by Marie Noelle Lamy Richard Towell Published by Cambridge University Press 1998 ISBN 0 521 42581 6 ISBN 978 0 521 42581 0 Nicknames Pet Names and Metaphors Casnig John D 1997 2009 A Language of Metaphors Kingston Ontario Canada Knowgramming com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Term of endearment amp oldid 1176289646, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
