THE NAME OF LOVE AROUND THE WORLD

What did your mother call you when you were young? Surely not by your name. She had a whole list of names of endearment ranging from divine to devilish depending on her mood and your deeds. Some of them were sweet like Mishti or precious like Sona or naughty like Dushtu or even fierce like Bagh but some were absolute nonsense like Bubu, Tutu, Laddu, Tultul, which meant nothing except endearing love!

A nickname is a substitute for the given official name of a familiar person, mostly out of affection. It is the foremost example of affection or bond between two individuals, family or a group of friends.

Why would the English choose to call their wife  ‘honey’ of all the things is beyond comprehension.......they expect her to stay sweet despite provocations perhaps! Pumpkin, peanut, bubby, baby, babe, bae, honey, darling, sugar, sweetie, honey bunch… English is packed full of fun, creative, and cute nicknames to call your loved ones. From food, to animals, to just plain gibberish words – lots of us love giving a cute nickname to our significant other, family, friends and children.

Learning cute nicknames is also a fun way to expand your vocabulary, and it develops your cultural understanding. Many of the words used as nicknames reflect social relationships, and are intertwined with the values of a particular culture.

Love brings the best out of us, but it also brings out the weirdest in us, as we call one another the strangest things, saccharine-dripping names which would be very awkward to translate into other languages. Well, you’ll be relieved to find out other languages are just as odd about their terms of endearment, and here are some of the best examples of that.

French: The French have tons of affectionate pet names they call each other! But some of them are a little less cute when translated to English. Nicknames like mon saucisson (“my little sausage”), mon petit chou (“my little cabbage” but used like “sweetie”), mon gros (“my fat one”), and ma puce (“my flea”) are a bit strange in English. For addressing a lady mon chat (“my cat”), ma belle (“my beautiful”), mon trésor (“my treasure”) or mon bijou (“my jewel”) are often used, but please don’t try them when you are in Paris next time.

Italian: Pet names, called nomignoli, are used freely and often for everyone, especially for children. There are tons of cute Italian nicknames for boys and girls. Parents can call their children cucciolo and tesoro, which is “puppy” and “treasure”. There are other fun ones, like bambino (“baby”), mimmo (“child”), or even the very signature Italian term, polpetto – “meatball.” Romantic terms like gioia mia (“my joy”), Biscottino(“little biscuit”), or Pasticcino (“cupcake”), “Luce dei miei occhi!” (“Light of my eyes!”) are only reserved for the precious loved one.

German: One of the most common and popular nicknames for women is Maus or Mauschen, which translates to “mouse” and “little mouse.” Cute nicknames for children like Erdbeerchen (“little strawberry”), Bärchen (“little bear”), and Schatz (“jewel” or “treasure”) are common.  

Spanish: Spanish is a passion infused language and has some creative pet names, such as mi perrito (“my puppy”), mi cielito (“my little heaven”), and amorcito (“little love”).

Russian: moi medvezhonok- my teddybear. Doves are a symbol of peace, so it makes sense that in Russian lovers call each othergolubchik (masculine) or golubushka (femenine).

Irish: mo chuisle (muh khwishle)- my pulse. This phrase was famously used in the movie Million Dollar Baby, and is the shortened form of a chuisle mo chroí or “pulse of my heart”.

Hungarian: házisárkány (hazisharkanh)- house dragon

Polish: brzydalu (bzhidaloo)- ugly one

Indonesian: buah hati ku- fruit of my heart

Brazilian Portuguese: chuchuzinho (choochoozinyo)- little chayote squash

Dutch: mijn poepie (mine poopy)- my fart…..now why is that cute!

Farsi: moosh bokhoradet- may a mouse eat you

Hebrew: kapara- my absolution

Swedish: sötnos (setnus)- sweet nose

Arabic: ya hayati- my life

Greek: matakia mou- my little eyes

Brazil: a gato or gata (cat) is slang for a handsome or pretty person.

Hindi: From cute ones like chaand kaa tukda- piece of the moon, to romantic ones like jaan – life, jaaneman, jane-bahar, to chiming ones like Chunnu, Munnu, to rhyming ones like Pappu, Gappu, the list is endless.

Bengali: Names like Bappa, Lappa, Tulu, Bulu, Shontu, Montu, Mona, Tukai, Babai, Babu, Potai,  mean nothing, Mishti (sweet), Dushtu(naughty), Pakhi(bird), Shona (gold), Puchki(very small) are some names with meanings.

Love needs no name, at least it doesn’t need a sensible name. It is the feeling that matters.