Personally, I have never gotten the hype by the names “baby,” “babe,” “bae,” “honey,” it feels forced to me. I’ve seen those TikTok videos where as a joke people will address their spouses by their real names and the spouses get mad and say something like “my family and friends can call me that, but you can’t.” I’ve never gotten the seriousness of it. If we already know we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife, why should I have to address you by those names? Again, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with saying them, but using real names should become more common as well.
I don’t get the agenda the other comments are trying to push by pretending people don’t use terms of endearment, but don’t worry, you’re definitely in the right here.
“terms of endearment” or “pet names” are common phrases because of the commonality of pet names, especially in romantic relationships.
Re-read the comments. No one argued that nobody uses terms of endearment. The argument is that using given names doesn’t need to be normalized because it’s already an extremely normal thing…and that the abnormal behavior would be someone actually getting upset that their SO called them by their given name.
I’m responding to your misunderstanding and mischaracterization of the OP and your straw men “nevers”, not other comments that agree with what I’m saying.
I’m guessing you thought you were responding to me, but you weren’t. I never said that people didn’t use terms of endearment. I said I have “never” seen anyone act in the manner OP described as in I’ve never seen someone get mad at their SO for using their real name.
