Terms of Endearment

Ever wonder how I got the nickname Cookie? It originated back in college when I used 'Cookie' as a term of endearment for many of my close friends, especially my favourite fourth year 'hook up buddy,' who adopted the name and started to call me Cookie right back. It suited me more than it did him, so it stuck.

Bestowing special friends with atypical soubriquets is something I do naturally (read unintentionally). I also have a tendency to refer to people by underused variations of their common name. If you're Mike, I'll call you Mikey. If you're Wes, I'll call you Wesley. If you're Kathryn, I'll call you Kat. Or maybe I'll use your initials, or your middle name, or an inversion of your initials; or I'll add a 'ski,' a 'ster' or a 'ness' to the end of your first name, or a 'Mc' or an 'O' (or both) to the beginning of your last name. Depends on my mood and how many martinis I've shared with you. Regardless, nicknaming has always given me warm fuzzies (perhaps part of the draw of this blog thing?).

These love-isms are not necessarily unique for each person on whom they get used, but they're uniquely mine. Especially because I combine them together, or use them with certain idiosyncratic vocal intonations. Some of my favourites include (often preceded by 'my little,' or 'my sweet'):

• Peanut
• Sweet Pea
• Rock Star
• Sweetness
• Bubba (mostly reserved for Lil Sis)
• Mama (borrowed from ARL's VP)
• Handsome
• Meatball
• Gorgeous
• Darlin'
• Silly Goose
• Lucky Chicken
• Sucker
• Poohead
• Playa
• Dorkbutt

You get the picture. All of these are simply unconventional alternatives to the generic 'baby,' 'sweetie,' and 'honey' that everybody else uses*. I just prefer to get a little more inventive with my affection**, because I'm so ridiculously overflowing with it. I can't help it. It's in my bone marrow.

*Disclaimer: Charming Fellow sometimes calls me Sweetie (I'm not even sure he knows he does it), and when he does, it takes me about 30 seconds to re-solidify. But that's because he's not the complete cheese-dick that I am, and the terms of endearment are few and meaningful. Keep calling me Sweetie, okay Handsome? I heart that a lot...

**I also feel it imperative to give props to my friend Golden Bear who creates a different variation of the word Cookie every time we IM (often daily). Cook-ster-ific. Cook-a-lookie. Cook-less-ica. CookieDookieDoo. He sits atop the C-Suite of the nicknaming board; a creative level to which I aspire.

***Jordan Baker - I apologize in advance for pirating your footnote technique. One shot deal (or so I say until you approve). It just worked well here.