# How far back does the word "baby" as a term of endearment for a significant other date to?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 26, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096 "2021-06-26T23:31:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/41 "2021-06-29T20:41:44Z")

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You specifically asked for pre-WWII examples in music.

ETA: Well you didn’t say music actually. But I hope you enjoyed the songs.

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**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/42 "2021-06-29T22:03:56Z")

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Can we now tackle “Snookums” ?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/43 "2021-06-29T23:14:29Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> My contention was that it’s use evolved during the Sixties. It’s use is no longer confined to a love interest.

So you’re now the one making a claim. Could you therefore please provide a cite?

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/44 "2021-06-29T23:52:21Z")

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Sure. Have you seen _The Producers_ (1967)? There’s a character who calls _everybody_ baby (much to the chagrin of Herr Leibkind). Also from 1967, “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” by the Beatles. It was even used for inanimate objects like police cars during the Watt’s riots (“Burn, Baby, Burn”). If you have similar examples of such use prior to the word’s appropriation by beatniks, hippies, and other elements of the counterculture, could you please share them?

On another note, why the hostility?

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Qfo8Adlq2O4/hqdefault.jpg "baby") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfo8Adlq2O4)

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/45 "2021-06-30T00:11:32Z")

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Gosh, I guess next time I’ll know better than to use hostile words like “please.”

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-the-word-baby-as-a-term-of-endearment-for-a-significant-other-date-to/945096/46 "2021-07-02T03:58:44Z")

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> [@jaycat](#):
>
> Can we now tackle “Snookums” ?

Like this? (First thing I thought of when I read this thread).

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ilHF1W2PDPI/maxresdefault.jpg "Snookey Ookums") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilHF1W2PDPI)

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