Comments on: Endearments – Yea or Nay?

By: Phonicsville in Sylable Valley, learn to read and speak English Fluently, learn the fun way with color illustrations, animation and audio

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:46:38 +0000

Phonicsville in Sylable Valley, learn to read and speak English Fluently, learn the fun way with color illustrations, animation and audio…

[...]Endearments – Yea or Nay? « All About Romance’s News & Commentary Blog[...]…

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:05:12 +0000

I grew up hearing my parents call each other “honey” and “dear” so often, it was years before I realized they were English words that were being used as endearments. I heard them as being other names they had for each other. It was an “Aha!” moment, in a good way, because I realized that the tone of voice was never sarcastic or matter-of-fact.
On the other hand, the steamiest they got around us (6) kids was hot and heavy kissing . . . well, that is how it seemed to us. When we were little, we would all gather round and hold on to a skirt or pants legs. It seemed like those kisses went on forever!

By: Luluwrites

Luluwrites — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:47:10 +0000

I normally dislike too many endearments, either in my life or my books. Especially when said by men and especially in a false voice. However, I have been reading – or rather listening to – Anne Stuart’s Rohan series and recently finished Breathless. In it the author uses an incredible number of endearments, but most are used sarcastically, so they are not so cloyingly annoying. And the narrator, Susan Erickson does a good job with the “hero’s” voice, so even when he is not being sarcastic, his common endearment of “my child” sounds plausible and realistic for the character.

Upon thinking about it, I wonder if excessive endearments are easier on the reader, if heard rather than read. However, JFTEE-Auburn mentioned the use of Sassenach as an endearment in the Outlander series and felt it was used well. I listened to the Outlander series and like many critics consider Davina Porter’s narration of the series to be the most perfect marriage of audiobook and narrator ever. But I got really tired of her saying Sassenach. She did an excellent job capturing the voice of Jamie Frasier both as a young and a middle-aged man. However, she always sounded “off” whenever she said this word. It just didn’t ring true and it was jarring enough it pulled me out of my delighted concentration. Maybe if I read the word it would have been easier to take.

By: karen mccoy

karen mccoy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:51:44 +0000

I use many and varied endearments but will never call someone I care about “pet”. A newly married couple used this term for each other and it was cringeworthy every time.

By: Ann Stephens

Ann Stephens — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:41:18 +0000

I use ‘honey’ or ‘sweetie’ most often, and only for my husband & kids. My youngest sister is ‘sweetie darling’ from our days watching Ab Fab, and I further humiliate my children by calling them ‘pomme’ or ‘sweet tato’, muhahahaha. (The first means ‘apple’ in French — can no longer remember where I picked it up.)

By: kathy

kathy — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:31:24 +0000

When our kids where growing up my husband and I would call each other Mommy and Daddy. when the kids became teenagers they asked us to please not call each other Mommy and Daddy when their friends came over. We said ok sure. But of course when the friends came over we would say “Oh Daddy Daddy I love you so and he would say oh Mommy Mommy I love you too” I know, we were terrible parents.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:18:20 +0000

I don’t mind endearments in person or in writing unless they’re overused. I get tired of every author assuming Texan men say “darlin’” all the time, or southern women call everyone “sugar.”

We use endearments in my home. I call the kids and my husband “sweetie,” or “honey” frequently. When the kids were younger they were often pumpkin or goose or sweet pea. Occasionally an endearment such as sweetie slips out when I’m conversing with students (high school) but the kids seems to think it’s funny and laugh when I do it.

I do *not* like terms such as “little one” or “baby girl.”

By: Jean Wan

Jean Wan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:54:01 +0000

Danielle: By the way, “ma mie” is a mediaeval form of “mon amie”, meaning not “my bread crumb” but “my (beloved) friend”.

Ha, I never knew that! Thanks Danielle. I always thought it was just a particularity.

By: Jean Wan

Jean Wan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:50:34 +0000

Heather Avalon: When a person I don’t know (a waitress, online friend, etc) calls me “Honey” or “Sweetie” I want to strangle them.

Yeah, one of my aunts is like this. Drives her nuts.

By: Jean Wan

Jean Wan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:49:36 +0000

Mo: The only place I find I am having issues with terms of endearment is that I am a longtime reader of Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series and I have seriously started to get annoyed with the constant use of “little one”.

Oh geez. "Little one" can have a serious ick factor for me - it's very borderline between what's appropriate and what's not, what's completely chauvinistic and not. And the Carpathians are definitely not the only one.