Don't call me Babe! The most hated pet names for women revealed (sorry sweetcheeks)

by Daily Mail Reporter, dailymail.co.uk
August 31st 2012

It has become one of the most common terms of endearment used by couples, but 'babe' has been voted the most hated pet name for women.

The term, made popular by Sonny and Cher's Sixties hit I Got You Babe, come out on top in a new study.

'Sweetcheeks', 'snookums' and 'muffin' were also a definite no no, but terms such as 'gorgeous', 'beautiful' and 'lovely' were considered acceptable.

Americanised nicknames like 'baby girl' and 'baby doll' are also unpopular, along with 'pudding' and 'pumpkin'.

The research also revealed that only one in five Britons calls their partner by their full name the majority of the time, with the same number admitting to using a private nickname when no-one else is around.

Many of the men who took part in the study also confessed to referring to their partner with terms they would only use while she was out of earshot.

'The Mrs' or 'the wife' were still used by some men, while one in six quietly referred to their partner as 'the boss'.

'Her indoors' was also a popular name for an absent wife or girlfriend, while one in 14 brave men had dubbed their loved one 'The ball and chain'.

'Pet names between partners are usually used as a way to show a little regular affection but some are clearly better than others,' says a spokesman for Siteopia.com, who commissioned the study.

'Whether using the more common terms like "babe" or "darling" or some of the more modern terms, the research shows the ones we choose for our partner can have very differing impacts.

'There's a lot of power in a name and each one throws up different connotations so it's important to know which ones will flatter a partner and which are definitely not going to have the right effect.'

One in ten husbands and boyfriends admitted they let their partner call them a soppy nickname they would dread their friends ever finding out.

Meanwhile one in ten Britons surveyed revealed that they were left embarrassed when others discovered their private nickname, with 44 per cent accidentally using it when others were around.

'Of course personal nicknames, when born out of affection, are a nice thing for partners to have between one another,' added the spokesman.

'Although as we've seen they aren't always names we want shared publicly.

'There's a lot to be read from a name, and sometimes using too strongly cliched or overly-soppy pet names for someone we like will just be seen as insincere.'

Original Page: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2196287/Dont-babe-The-hated-pet-names-women-revealed-sorry-sweetcheeks.html

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