Oh pet names, you subject of much consternation. Sometimes we love them, sometimes we hate them, but somehow it seems we always manage to have them. Ok, well, maybe not always…
I don’t think Joe and I had pet names. Well, unless my brothers’ teasing moniker for Joe counts. They called him Joeypoo– frequently and loudly and usually interspersed with suck-face sound effects and neener neeners.
Shane and I actually discussed pet names at length, because we discussed everything at length. We decided in favor of them, but only if we never used the ones we chose for each other for anyone else. Thus I became “doll” and he became “pookie.” Understandably, I have kept my end of the bargain, partly because of our agreement and partly because no one else would ever let me call them “pookie.”
I attempted to contrive nicknames between Luke and me. I started calling him “puppy,” thinking it would be cute if he called me “kitten.” Unfortunately, my pet name became some sort of wacky combination of “kitty,” “mrowr,” and “iddlewiddlekissypoody.” Not what I had in mind.
Matt called me “honeyrabbit.” I actually never could figure out what to call Matt between his many military nicknames, his real name, and his real semi-preferred name. To date I have settled on “asshole,” but I didn’t call him that (much) when we were dating.
Do you and your significant other have pet names for each other? Did anyone ever give you a pet name you hated? What’s your stance on pet names in general?
DH and I have pet names that are associated with inside jokes like the time he went to get napkins in a McDonald’s and I snuck a bite of his chicken nugget and closed the box superfast so when he opened his meal his face fell as he thought some disgruntled employee of the Golden Arches had nibbled on his supper. Shrugging he went ahead and bit into the nugget before I dissolved into laughter. Thus I am known as the Sneaky Little Chicken Nugget. Beat that shit, babe.
In all seriousness, the only person ever to call me doll got a swift elbow to the gut. I am also not a sweetie, a honey, nor anyone’s darling. I’m not sure how I would have endured a puppy/kitten relationship at any point in my life. I would have had to snark on that sweetness until the relationship was dead, dead I tell you.