To use affectionate nicknames or not?

Love, sweetheart, handsome, prince, baby, life, heart and even more honeyed and almost unintelligible variations: women invent the most diverse nicknames to address their partners. This is a common craze among couples, but to what extent is it normal? And how healthy is it? Some factors need to be noted before adopting these names in your relationship.

It is undeniable that affectionate nicknames help to create an identity for the couple. Calling your boyfriend by a name that only you use conveys a sense of exclusivity and affinity between the partners. When passion is in the air, it’s almost impossible to resist the temptation to use a cute nickname that “brings you closer” to the other person.

Does he not care?

It may be that the guy, even feeling the greatest love in the world for you, doesn’t feel comfortable with the chosen nickname. Women need to understand, once and for all, that the masculine nature, in general, is not very adept at heightened romanticism. Be careful not to choose, therefore, a word so sweet that, every time you use it, your partner wants to disappear from the face of the Earth, with so much shame.

Know where to suppress the use of the nickname

When you are in public, the couple needs to respect certain rules that, even if they are not written anywhere, are useful to not embarrass other people and keep the integrity of the partners preserved. So, even if your lover naturally accepts the nickname you gave him, it’s important to know in what situations to use it.

If the nickname chosen is too intimate or childish, for example, it is not recommended to use it in front of the guy’s family or at a get-together at the company he works for. Common sense is important in order not to get ugly and to protect your partner from possible jokes, made by your co-workers or close relatives.

And what does psychology say?

According to Andréa Alves, psychotherapist of couples and families, explains that “when love is intense, in those moments of greater intimacy, the couple tends to make a sweeter, more careful voice. A cute nickname indicates cuddle.” Looking at it from this point of view, the nicknames are, in fact, an indication that the couple is very much in love.

However, when nicknames migrate to a more paternal field, such as “mommy” or “little son”, the relationship can suffer. Many couples start to call themselves “mommy” and “daddy” when their children arrive, to give them an example of how to call their parents. Extending this form of treatment to intimate relationships, using these terms exclusively, ends up putting the couple’s identity at risk. According to Alves: “the couple can enter into another, more paternal tune, and undermine the relationship. You cannot kill the footprint, the male and female energy of the relationship.

In short, the decision to use affectionate nicknames or not is at the discretion of the couple. As long as you know how to respect the environment you are in, there is no problem. Just in case, choose more common terms: this avoids embarrassment.