Word of the Day: hypocorism

hypocorism (n)

A pet name, or babytalk by an adult.

"Cabbage, however, has enjoyed unlikely success as a hypocorism, a usage that dates back to the mid nineteenth century; this usage arose as a direct translation of chou, which French lovers had been calling each other for a long time: 'Oh, mon petit chou" -- "Oh, my little cabbage.'"
--Mark Steven Morton, The Lover's Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the Language of Love and Sex

These days, even if you're French, I do not recommend that you refer to your lover as "my little cabbage". Not unless you want to do a lot of explaining.

My mother had a hypocorism for me when I was a tot: "Pumpkin". Why she called me that I don't know. I could ask her, but it would be awkward -- I don't think she knows either. I certainly didn't resemble a pumpkin or gourd of any sort. At least she didn't call me a little cabbage.

This word, by the way, is one of the ones that the late David Foster Wallace circled in his dictionary.