For reasons of some fiction writing, I’m looking for the equivalent of the french ‘Mon Chou’ as a lover’s term of endearment in both Spanish and Arabic. In essence, terms that a flirtatious lover might call his object of desire. Anyone know any good, appropriate versions? And if you could give me what they ‘literally’ mean, as well, that’d be cool! (‘Mon Chou’ is short for ‘Mon petit chouchou’, which literally means ‘my brussel sprout’.)
-vague highjack-
I’m a native speaker of French and I never made the association between “mon chou” and brussel sprouts.
-end of vague highjack-
There are wayyyyy too many. Maybe if you could give us a more specific setting, background of characters, etc.
In Spanish or at least used in Mexico:
Clean flirtatious:
“Mi turrón de azúcar” (My nougat of sugar)
“Mi mielecita” (My little honey)
“Mi corazoncito” (My little heart)
“Mi bello amanecer” (Mi Beautiful Dawning)
Vulgar:
“Mi torta” (My Mexican Sandwhich - “torta” slang for “a**”)
“Mi rajada de papaya” (My Slice of Papaya - “papaya” slang for vagina though the connation or usage of slang is more popular in Cuba.
Etc., etc.
XicanoreX
Me neither … I’ve always heard it meant cabbage, or my little cabbage. Is that correct?
It is indeed cabbage
I’ve always heard that “torta” a slang equivalent to “dyke”, and it was derived from “tortarilla”, or tortilla press, which is two flat surfaces pressed together.:dubious:
I always heard cabbage, too. My little cabbage. Good thing the guy didn’t have a thing for Beets or Asparagus. I wouldn’t find that endearing at all!
Okay, to clarrify-
The hispanic term is for a Spanish ex-priest who has fallen in love with a woman. The term should -not- be anything vulgar.
The arabic term is for a more, shall we say, passionate young man, who is finally having his love returned. Probably not vulgar, but if there’s a choice between something more or less ‘racy’, he might go with the racy choice, might not.
I hope that’s enough info to go with.
“chou” indeed means cabbage, but Brussel sprouts are called “choux de Bruxelles” (litterally “Brussel cabbages”), hence the OP mistake, I suppose.
And “chou” isn’t a shortening for “chouchou” ( rather the contrary “chouchou” probably comes from “chou”…and mainly, amongst other meanings, refers to the prefered one…for instance “le chouchou du professeur” would be the pupil the teacher supposedly likes the most)
By far the most common Arabic term of endearment is ‘ya habibi’ (pronounced yah haBEEbee), which literally means ‘O my beloved’.
Okay, okay, it’s CABBAGE. I get it. Sheesh! 
I’ve always thought Brussel sprouts look like tiny cabbages.
It is OK, my little bundle of spinach. We still like you!
In Swedish the most common (that I can tell) is “Älskling”, pronounced “elskling” from the very “att älska” which mean “to love”.
Sorry, misread the OP. I thought you wanted to know words from all sorts of languages.
I have been drinking today. That is the only excuse I can offer.
A few more common Spanish terms I have heard:
Mi vida (my life)
Querida mía (my dear, my darling)
Corazoncita (little heart)
Plus the classic, “mi amor” (my love)
These are all very polite, and there are hundreds more. I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but after 20 minutes of telenovelas I could probably come up with a dozen or so.
Mi dulce- My sweet
Mi monequita ? Not sure of the spelling but it’s roughly baby doll. And I don’t know how to type the ~ over the n.
Ah yes, muñequita. It means “little doll”.
So what, exactly, does a Frenchman mean when he says mon chou? I’m assuming he doesn’t literally mean “my little Brussel Sprout” but maybe he does.
Maybe Jovan or clairobscur can clear this up for me.