I call my hubby “buddy”, or [lastname] when I’m feeling playful. I often call him by his middle name, which is what every one calls him (he and his father share a first and middle name, and firstname is always used for his father, middlename for him, to avoid confusion). Of course, during intimate moments, the full range of endearments come out, but on a day-to-day basis, it’s middlename, lastname, or buddy.
He calls me firstname (I’ve never had a nick name I liked!) or sweetie. Boring, I know, but hey, he’s an engineer. He can’t help it.
BTW, if it’s relevant, we’ve been married for 18 years, together for 23.
So, what about you and your SO? How do you refer to one another?
I either use his name, or “babe”. Not sure why, but there you have it.
On the rare times he addresses me with a name of any kind, it’s just my regular old name. No sweetie or honey or anything. For example… most often: “Did you want a drink?” and much more rare: “Antigen, did you want a drink?” The latter is mostly only used when there are other people about, because when we’re alone he just assumes I’ll know he’s talking to me.
Hey, at least he uses the right name. I’ll take it.
My husband sometimes calls me “Sarafina,” which is how I got my screen name. I call him the diminutive add-a-y form of his name. Otherwise, the usual “hon,” “babe,” etc.
I call him dear, he calls me sweetheart. When he calls me honey, he’s irritated with me and trying to hide it. I don’t think he knows I’ve figured that out.
You can include the “keep it to yourself” names if you wish. Here, I’ll start:
when he’s acting like a good guy (you know, when I can clearly remember why I married him), I’ll think “honey”. But I’m more likely to keep it to myself when I’m mentally calling him “asshole”. Fortunately, he’s the type that, if I call him that out loud, he’ll be genuinely interested in what he did wrong, and not repeating the behavior in the future.
I call her dear, doll, my sweet, my love, and of course, her real firstname. Phone calls always end with, "Bye, lover."When I’m peeved, it’s wife.
She calls me lover or my firstname. In the third person, I’m her hubby or the big guy. To the dog, for example, “I don’t have your squeaky bone; go talk to the big guy.”
I call him baby or by his name. Though when we’re alone, I’ll call him Love Bug. (Cute, isn’t it, naming him after those bugs that screw for hours then promptly die from exhaustion. And cover your car in black and red goo whenever you travel in May)
