Honey? Sweetie? Lambchop? Pookie?!

Good question Frank. But I dont think chinese people tend to be very affectionate. There was one lesson about love and jenny said that the chinese dont typcially express love through words. It would be very unusual for even close family members to say I love you. So i wonder if pet names even exist at all! I think we need some real chinese people to fill us in on this topic.

Hello, is there a Mandarin equivalent of the very endearing Cantonese endearments: 老公 (husband; literally, "old man") and 老婆 (wife; literally, "old lady")? One of my Singaporean girl-friends, who is an Oxford-educated lawyer, refers to her English husband as "lo-gong", and to herself as his long-suffering (but very well-loved) "lo-porr". This sounds perfectly natural and sweet in Cantonese.

I'm sure Chinese people have pet names for their spouse. Taiwanese drama's translate some words as "wifey" and such, so there probably are cute pet names. ...I've heard Taiwanese husbands calling their wives 太太 (tài tai). This is translated as "wife" in the dictionary, but I wonder if it's a cutesy way of saying it... actually, I think it went both ways too. Another thing is "Baobei" (or something like it). I wonder....

I'm far from an expert on the subject but I don't think you can go wrong with using 親愛的 （qin1 ai4 de) as a general affectionate diminutive for a spouse or S.O. ... or even more affectionately try: 親愛的你 （qin1 ai4 de ni3) 再見， 何睿林

My wife from Taiwan calls me something that sounds like, if I Pinyin as much of it as I can, "lei zee, yi di ot". Some of those sounds aren't Mandarin, so it must be something very praiseworthy or affectionate in Taiwanese.

lord stanley. It sounds like she is calling you a "lazy idiot" LOL! i'm only kidding man! I couldnt resist...

lordstanley, hilarious. Good one.

Brilliance. Pure brilliance!

Xiao + [the actual name or some pet animal or the like] usually takes care of everything

Awww, that's sweet! So I could call someone 我的小饺子? :-D

Frank, According to google translator, the translations are as follows: Sweetie=cheng Baby=lujiajie Honey=lijoy Dear=zi an Pookie=jinxin Darling=xiang Babycakes=zhang Sweetcheeks=hank

I've been known to call my girlfriends "my little ravioli," but then... I am Italian. And often single. :-)

that is so cute Frank! yes an equivalent in Chinese: 我的小饺子。 (Wǒ de xiǎo jiǎozi.) My little dumpling! ;)

I love it. Can't wait to use it! (Don't be surprised if you find yourself on the receiving end of this, Ambtastic. Hehe.) :-)

Great idea, Frank! So I just slipped a sweet note onto my sleeping wife's pillow calling her 我的小 臭豆腐 (wo3 de xiao3 chou4 dou4 fu). I'll let you know in the morning how she reacts. See, even after several years of marriage, I've still got game! Thanks, Frank, I owe you one.

宝宝 (bǎobao) baby, darling 猪猪 (zhū zhū) piggy 大坏蛋 (dà huàidàn) big bad egg 小笨蛋 (xiǎo bèndàn) little bad egg 小傻瓜 (xiǎo shǎguā) little fool 小心肝 (xiǎo xīngān) little darling 臭小子 (chòuxiǎozi) stinky boy Some of the terms of endearment in Chinese sound like insults, but when we use them in this way they don't sound bad!

Well Stanley, how's that eye healing up?

Lujiaojie, thanks! Thats what we wanted. Thanks for sharing.

小傻瓜 (xiǎo shǎguā) little fool That's got me written all over it. :-) Thanks, lujiaojie!

I dont know Frank, it may loose something in the translation. Might be like calling someone a little ravioli or a small pierogi. Seems like there is definitely not a plethora of examples here. Maybe lordstanley sheds light on what is actually more common? :-) His example is definitely quite universal and so funny because we can all relate. Good job Stan.