Terms of Endearment

Have you ever noticed....that changing or removing one letter from a term of endearment that you would use for a lover changes that same term into something you'd use for a friend?

Darling becomes darlin

Baby becomes babe

If you take ey of honey and use hon - it becomes a universal term.

I use darlin a lot in reference to close friends. I would never call the same people darling, it just wouldn't be right.

When you first get into a relationship, babe seems appropriate where baby does not. When you've been with someone awhile, baby seems to capture intimacy you've developed.

And maybe that's what this is. Intimacy.

It's all right to call someone darlin - it's flip and it's casual. Darling, however, speaks of a loving relationship with someone. Same with baby.

See, when you have a 45-60 minute commute each way to work, you have way too much time to ponder the English language and our usage thereof.

Ah, well. That's all over soon - I think I found a duplex in town where I work!