Pet names from other people?

[jleec24]

My SO and I were talking the other day and she had told me that some guy in her class calls her "baby" from time to time. Usually when she helps him out with his group-task (they work in the same group). I had told her that it put me in an awkward position and made me a little uncomfortable and she agreed and said that she would ask him to cut it out.

But that conversation got me thinking! What is your stance on other people calling your SO pet-names? Or even other people calling you pet-names! If that happens

[XxFranticLovexX]

For me, it depends on the person, the situation, and the name. I have someone who likes to call me by a few and I keep asking him to not do it, but he still does. He's starting to do it less, but I still have to mention it to him occasionally. As long as it isn't being encouraged, they have expressed that it's not okay, or it isn't really a 'pet' name, but more of a nickname then I have no problem with it.. because they are not giving the other person any ideas that they shouldn't be getting about my guy. XD

[snow_girl]

This guy at work calls me darling. He doesn't mean anything by it, but I quite like it. He calls all the girls that, it doesn't mean anything.

[Haley53]

I think it depends. I know girls who call everyone "babe" or "hun," and I tend to use "dear" towards my friends. So for me, if it was something he referred to everyone as, it wouldn't bother me as much, but if he were only referring to her as "baby," then I can see why she'd be bothered by it.

[Sora1101]

For me I think it depends on the person and the pet name. I would feel uncomfortable with anyone of the opposite sex calling my SO baby if I knew that they hadn't really known each other long or that they used it seriously and not in a joking kind of manner. But if they've been friends for awhile and were just messing around I'd be totally fine with it.

[Travey]

Generally speaking I've come to just call most people of the opposite sex at school chica, or if my SO and I are in chat I do the same. I just make sure not to call her that. I know it's just a word but you always remember the first time your SO called you baby or sweetie or honey or whichever name applies to you and your SO. Words do carry lots of weight. Sure, some of her close friends might call her baby everyone once in a while, but I love how she calls out dudes that call her babe, only I get to do that

[squeeker]

If someone called my boyfriend that I know I'd be jealous and worry about her intentions.. though if the circumstances were casual/friendly I'd do my best to get past it. I know my boyfriend is serious about me and would probably be just as uncomfortable about it.. if someone called me a pet name like that, I'd be extremely uncomfortable.. unless it was an older person or someone using it in a way I knew they were trying to be funny or something, but I might still be uncomfortable about it. I'm not too sure. I think either way I'd be uncomfortable.

[efish1042]

I don't think affectionate pet names from people outside of your relationship is necessarily a bad thing. I don't want anyone but my SO calling me 'angel' or anything, but if it's just 'doll', 'hon', 'love', etc. I'm okay. I wouldn't mind if other people called my SO anything not too intimate. In fact, a mutual (female) friend calls him 'hon' and 'lovey' on occasion.
Pet names denote intimacy or affection on some level, in most cases (that aren't condescending). As long as the name isn't specifically something that should be used solely by two persons in an intimate romantic relationship, then I don't mind. I refer to people by pet names quite frequently and am often treated likewise. I don't believe that is the case with my SO, but I know it is with his older brother as he frequently refers to women as 'dear' and the like.
There's a line. If you or your SO feel like it's been crossed, then handle it. 'Babe' has a different level of connotation than 'baby' in my book. Any guy I know can call me 'babe', but only my SO and my closest friends should call me 'baby'. It's your and your SO's comfort levels that make the difference.

[dukes2011]

For me it would depend on the person and what the pet name was. I would definitely not be comfortable with someone else calling my SO baby and if someone called me that without joking I would probably tell them it made me uncomfortable. Oddly enough, we both have friends that call us weird things but we're ok with it since it's clearly in a joking manner. I also think we're ok with it since it is friends of the same gender and not the opposite sex. My group of close friends that are all girls from high school call me munchkin and my boyfriend's roommates call each other things like cutie all the time.

[kittyo9]

It is very common for my SO and his friends to call each other by nicknames, but they're usually kind of offensive... for example, my SO's nickname is "gordo" ("fat") because he used to be fat. Those have been around for far longer than I have, so I really don't care about them. If someone were to start calling him "sweetie" in an affectionate manner, though, I think I'd question his or her motives and ask my SO to have them stop.

I've known guys who just give everyone affectionate pet names, though. Like, I had one guy friend in one of my chem classes a few years back that would always call me honey-- not because he meant anything by it, but just because that's what he did with everyone. I think if it were just me, I'd be uncomfortable with it, though.

[lucybelle]

Like kitty09 said, here everyone has a pet name. I think it's a Spanish thing. I go buy apples and some guy will say ''what do you need my love?'' They also use ''my queen'' and ''pretty girl'' a lot. Just how it is. I really like it

[meganpillow]

I agree with a lot of the posts say. It really does depend on the person, situation, etc.
Usually I would ask them to cut it out, since I really don't want to upset my SO.

[rubydissolution]

Def a person, pet name sorta thing. I think baby really should be reserved for bfs n gfs. But a lot of me n my guy friends have nicknames for each other. But they aren't intimate names . They are more personal joke nicknames and I think those are harmless and pretty normal round close friends.

[Tooki]

Like kitty09 said, here everyone has a pet name. I think it's a Spanish thing. I go buy apples and some guy will say ''what do you need my love?'' They also use ''my queen'' and ''pretty girl'' a lot. Just how it is. I really like it

Hola mi bonita/Hola mi rey

My missus calls me bub enough that her nephew only knows me as bub now . Or Oak

[jleec24]

Lots of interesting posts coming in! I agree with a lot of the ones on here. Like my guy friends and I call each other babe, cutie, honey and stuff like that all the time but all in just good fun and my SO uses "love" and "dear" with her girl friends. But we always reserve "baby" just for each other because it's a little bit more intimate in our opinion. So when a guy that she knew for just about two months started calling her that we both got a little iffy and she asked him to cut it out.

We also make petnames for each other though, she's my nerdmuffin