Spanish Words of Endearment?

[SpringBreeze]

I love hearing Latin guys saying "mi corazon" to their girlfriends and wives. So, I thought it'd be cool to start a list for words of endearment in Spanish...

1. Mi corazon

2. Mi tesoro

3. Mi bello angel

[jtucci21]

Mi cariño/a

Mi gordita (little fat one, haha! Adorable)

I can't think of any others off the top of my head though!

[SmartPea85]

When I was first learning Spanish I practiced by speaking to my Salvadorian boyfriend at the time. One of my terms of endearment in English was to call him "silly." When I looked this up in the Spanish-English dictionary, the translatilon it gave me was "tonto", so I texted him something and ended it by calling him "tonto". He wrote back a little incredulously, "You just called me stupid!" haha whoops.

So that was the day I learned the two languages don't always translate exactly, especially when it comes to terms of endearment 

[alieangeles]

Interesting question! Here are a few I hear used on a regular basis:

 

Mi amor,

 

Mi vida,

 

Mi cielito,

 

Mi chiquita,

 

(Mi) hija,

 

(Mi) hijo,

 

Nena,

 

Mijo/a,

 

Mi bello/a

[Ariché]

Mi alma, mi Reina, angelito, bizcocho, bombón, caramelo, (insert many more sweets here),  dulzura, muñeca,

Or by her attributes chaparrita, flaquita, morena...

I also think from this list cannot be missing "Mi vieja". Although they are usually not as receptive with this one many husbands use this one. 

 

 

On 14/02/2014 at 4:41 AM, SmartPea85 said:

When I was first learning Spanish I practiced by speaking to my Salvadorian boyfriend at the time. One of my terms of endearment in English was to call him "silly." When I looked this up in the Spanish-English dictionary, the translatilon it gave me was "tonto", so I texted him something and ended it by calling him "tonto". He wrote back a little incredulously, "You just called me stupid!" haha whoops.

So that was the day I learned the two languages don't always translate exactly, especially when it comes to terms of endearment 

Hahah. yeah. Sometimes we think that just by meaning alone we can find the right word but context matters. I've done that, just that insulting friends in English. 

Just for the record though 'tonto' is more used in the context of like 'dumb' or 'fool and depending the person might be an okay word to use or not. I also think you dodge a bullet, usually "silly" gets translated as 'necio' which we never really use in a endearing way. Necio is more of an accusation about someone being stubbornly saying or doing silly things. Similar to "headstrong".

Now for silly you could call him 'bobo' it is another way to say dumb. It works in the similar context you'd use for silly. "Claro que no, bobo" (Of course no, silly). You can call him "bobito" to ensure the endearing context if you're using the word on its own. You can actually use 'tonto' this same way, but while soft, without context people,like I think your boyfriend did, might think it is accusatory.

[petesede]

That is why the Lone Ranger is so funny, for those who don´t know, his side kick was an indian named Tonto.  Many people believe that it was a bit of hidden racism from the writer.

The funniest ones for me are the gordo/a and gordito/a..   But basically you can take any part of their appearance, add ´ito´ and it can be used that what, weight, hair color, including skin color which really can be a shock.  Being from the hyper-politically correct USA, it still makes me feel uncomfortable when someone says ´mi negrita´.

but when they say ´my heaven´ or ´my life´ is sounds much more authentic than if we tried to say it in english.

Just curious, does anyone know if  ´miel´ works?  I may try it just to see what reaction I get ..