Ashley in Tallahassee, Florida, says some friends find it odd that she refers to her husband as Dad even when their daughter isn’t around. Is it weird to address your spouse that way? In some cultures, parents are addressed differently after their...
A listener in Fairbanks, Alaska, says her husband has long referred to her as a whippersnapper, insisting it’s a playful term of endearment. Whippersnapper goes back to the 17th century, when boys who didn’t own horses would strut around cracking...
Lana in Evansville, Indiana, says all the women in her family affectionately call each other Gert or Gertie. She has discovered that one of her friends also uses the name Gertie as a term of endearment for the women in her own family. Although in...
A Canadian-born caller says her mother, who is from Britain, addresses her grandson as booby. In The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, researchers Iona and Peter Opie write that booby is a children’s term for “a foolish crybaby,” which may be...
Mark in Long Beach, California, was considering hell for leather as a racing-team name. The phrase means going recklessly at full speed, but its origin is uncertain. A traditional explanation points to a rough horseback ride, with saddle, reins, or...
A listener in Lashio, Myanmar, reports that a term of endearment in the local language translates as “my little liver.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “My Little Liver” Our conversation about terms of endearment in different...
