"Sop you up with a biscuit."

October 27, 2009 8:47 PM

What words for food are also words for affection?

In English we say sweet nothings to our honey, sugar, pumpkin, sweetie, sweetie-pie, dumpling, and cupcake.

What food-words that double as affectionate names am I forgetting, and what are examples from other languages?

posted by bardic to writing & language (64 comments total)

Mon petit chou, of course. French. "My little cabbage." I do not understand it either.
posted by opossumnus at 8:48 PM on October 27 [2 favorites has favorites]

Cookie.
posted by typewriter at 8:49 PM on October 27

muffin, sweet pea, pumpkin
posted by maloon at 8:50 PM on October 27

Chum.
posted by hawthorne at 8:52 PM on October 27 [14 favorites has favorites]

Also mon petit pois, my little pea.

With Russian, we have mya morkovka, or my little carrot. I see a trend here. I wonder what will happen if I call my lover "my little phallic vegetable." Can anyone say that in French?

Also mi media naranja, Spanish for my half an orange.

Not exactly food, but in El Salvador mi gordito/a means my little fat one. Um. We eat gorditas. Cough.
posted by opossumnus at 8:52 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Pudding. Apple cheeks.

My boyfriend occasionally calls me his little burrito, but I think that's just an us thing.
posted by shaun uh at 8:52 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sugarplum
Peach (as in, "you're a peach!")
Apple of my eye
posted by yawper at 8:53 PM on October 27

honeybun, sugar, sweetcake, gumdrop
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 8:54 PM on October 27

Xiao bao - little bun, in Mandarin.
posted by archofatlas at 8:55 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, in Urdu we say "mittu" which means sweetie. It's used more for children, not SO's.
posted by yawper at 8:56 PM on October 27

Dumpling.
posted by HotToddy at 8:58 PM on October 27

Peanut.
posted by HotToddy at 8:59 PM on October 27

The mom in Shaun of the Dead calls her son "pickle," but I've never heard that in American English. A British thing?
posted by bardic at 9:00 PM on October 27

Oh, whoops, you had dumpling in your question. Never mind!
posted by HotToddy at 9:01 PM on October 27

Beefcake.
posted by cyniczny at 9:04 PM on October 27

Honeypie?

There are some others here
posted by Gorgik at 9:07 PM on October 27

I'm only coming up with rude words, like goober and tart, and of course, taters.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:08 PM on October 27

Babycakes.
posted by bluloo at 9:09 PM on October 27

My dad used to be called Rickle-pickle (for Richard) and my housemate was called Nickle-Pickle (Nicholas).
posted by shaun uh at 9:10 PM on October 27

Treacle
posted by tellurian at 9:11 PM on October 27

Crumpet.
posted by pompomtom at 9:16 PM on October 27

Clam.
posted by bunnytricks at 9:16 PM on October 27

A few from German that I can speak to with certainty:

Süße - literally 'sweetness' but in this context 'sweetie.'

Depending on how liberally you want to take the notion of 'words for food' there's also Hase (rabbit).

From lists on the internet (a native speaker could say just how common these really are):

Entchen (little duck), Erdnusskernchen (peanut), Fischlein (little fish), Früchtchen (little fruit), Gummibärchen (little gummy bear), Hähnchen (little hen), Honig (honey) and various derivatives, Keks (cookie), Kirsche (cherry), Pflaumchen (little plum), Quarktörtchen/Sahnetörtchen (little cream torte), Schokohasi (chocolate bunny), Zimtfischchen/Zimtschnecke/Zimttiger (cinnamon fish, snail, tiger), Zitrönchen (little lemon), and various derivatives of Zucker (sugar).
posted by jedicus at 9:17 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

With the right intonation, anything can imply love and affection.

I've heard "pickle" used with love, also "peanut" (implying little brain, in the nicest way possible).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:23 PM on October 27

french fry
half-pint
snickerdoodle
posted by geekyguy at 9:25 PM on October 27

Oh and of course "sugarpie, honeybunch."
posted by jedicus at 9:25 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Was a classmate of a short girl called "fun size" by the well-meaning, too-jovial professor. ("Fun size" is the term for those smaller candy bars that are given out on Halloween and such.)

If we're allowed to get into brand names: Smartie
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:28 PM on October 27

Tuna!

That's more about masculine friendliness than affection, though.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:32 PM on October 27

sugarsnap

popsicle toes

moonpie

tall glass of water
posted by artdrectr at 9:33 PM on October 27

kumquat
posted by Taurid at 9:42 PM on October 27

Lollipop. Huckleberry. Sugar-daddy.
posted by tellurian at 9:50 PM on October 27

in Spanish, I've heard "corazon de melon" and "corazon de pollo"
posted by Admira at 9:53 PM on October 27

Crumpet
Melon
Mung bean
Pumpkin pie
Honey pie
Sausage
Strudel/Apple Strudel
French Onion (seriously, an English friend used to call me this. Maybe it was from Allo Allo?)
Fruit cake
Mushroom
posted by goshling at 10:05 PM on October 27

Not sure if it really fits by my Step dad used to say my mother, "could really ring my dinner bell".
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:11 PM on October 27

Sticky buns.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 10:11 PM on October 27

In Puerto Rican Spanish, mi china is used this way. It means "my orange," but china doesn't mean orange in any other Spanish-speaking nation as far as I know.
posted by invitapriore at 10:12 PM on October 27

Chook (Australian slang for chicken)
posted by goshling at 10:13 PM on October 27

("Choux" isn't just "cabbage" in French. It's also a kind of fluffy pastry dough, which makes more sense as a term of endearment.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:14 PM on October 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

sugar in my coffee
hot apple pie
cherry
the sparkle in my champagne
gingersnap
coconut
posted by Muirwylde at 11:20 PM on October 27

In Malay, "Chilli padi" means, literally, a very small but very hot chilli pepper. From what I understand of Singaporean slang, it can be used to affectionately refer to a small but lively/hot-tempered girl or woman--someone who might be described as "a real firecracker." (Might mean sexy, too, but my mom didn't mention that part in her explanation when we were kids....)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:54 PM on October 27

Bun and Pie (with or without a Sugar prefix) are big 'round these parts. Also Chicklet.
posted by davejay at 12:35 AM on October 28

Oh, and I call my daughter a teeny weeny chili beanie.
posted by davejay at 12:36 AM on October 28

In Dutch: mijn schatje (my little treasure).
posted by transporter accident amy at 12:40 AM on October 28

My parents have always called me "Pickle-Pie," and we're American.
posted by besonders at 1:15 AM on October 28

Oh, and I call my daughter a teeny weeny chili beanie.

That is adorable, davejay!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:41 AM on October 28

I want candy.
posted by trip and a half at 4:22 AM on October 28

My wife calls me Potate.
posted by The Potate at 4:57 AM on October 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sugartits.
posted by Busoni at 5:18 AM on October 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

In Italian, "cipollina" -- little onion.

My parents used to call me "ragamuffin" when I was little.
posted by wyzewoman at 6:04 AM on October 28

In the film noir era, dames used to be called tomatoes.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:52 AM on October 28

And if personal examples count: when I hug my wife while she's still in bed and her body is warm from the air beneath the comforter, I call her my little toaster pastry.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:55 AM on October 28

I'd always heard "petit chou chou" instead of just "petit chou." There are many more hits for the first one as well. For a bit more info on why this term is popular, check this post.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:08 AM on October 28

Re: Pickle as a nickname. My wife's parents are English and I haven't heard them mention anyone with that monicker; I'll have to ask. In the movie "The Squid and the Whale," the younger boy Frank's nickname is 'Pickle,' and his brother is 'Chicken.' It's set in the states. So I'm not sure it's an English thing as much as a 'wacky parent' thing.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:17 AM on October 28

My mom called me turkey. Short for turkey legs. I was a plump baby. I call my kiddo chicken. I don't know why.
posted by shmurley at 7:23 AM on October 28

包子 - baozi - dumpling
Chinese
posted by geekyguy at 7:53 AM on October 28

All that and a bag of chips
Butter biscuit
Jellybean
Tater tot
Juicy fruit
Bubbles
Cherry or cherry pie
posted by notashroom at 7:56 AM on October 28

My SO calls me "Potato Pie" based on my love for the delicious starch.
posted by banannafish at 9:32 AM on October 28

We call our daughter 'pickle' and 'pickle pie' and we're most definitely not British. We also call her 'gumdrop,' 'peanut,' and 'peanut pie.'

Pa Ingalls called Laura 'half-pint,' presumably because she was short of stature.

My friend's daughter is named Maeve and her nickname is 'Maevey-Gravy.' My friend wanted her nickname to be 'Maevey-Bean,' but 'Maevey-Gravy' just seemed more fun.
posted by cooker girl at 11:01 AM on October 28

"Chicken" in northern England. (Warning - Yahoo Answers, only relevant answer is the first one)
posted by triggerfinger at 12:47 PM on October 28

Hot tamale.
Cupcake.
posted by JenMarie at 1:24 PM on October 28

Pork chop.
posted by pompomtom at 5:53 PM on October 28

("Choux" isn't just "cabbage" in French

Chou is cabbage (choux being the plural). Choux (plural noun) is the pastry.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:59 PM on October 28

Cheesecake and beefcake are not exactly terms of endearment, but used to refer to prime specimens of females and males respectively, specifically w/r/t pinups or sexy photos.
posted by condour75 at 8:53 PM on October 28

Damn excess spelling. Thanks, dnab.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:01 AM on October 29