Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    	I gushed uncontrollably with my dog, but he loved it and didn't 
    	even mind when I gushed in public.  (I know because he told me.  
    	=8*) )  However, Louie died a year ago and now I can only gush 
    	with him in dreams.
    
    	My human friends closest to me usually have pet names they call 
    	me which aren't necessarily mooshy, and vice versa.  One close
    	friend calls me Star Baby.  I call my SO Bubba (my favorite *fun* 
    	thing to tell him is "Bubba, I lubba yubba") or Boo Boo.  He 
    	never used to be a pet-name caller other than calling me Darling, 
    	but now he mostly calls me Boo Boo.  In fact, I can't remember 
    	the last time he used my real name!!!
    
    				But my real name is...Carla!
    

    Well I am always applying nicknames and pet names to those
    around me and to a lesser degree having them applied. As
    a kid I was Jonnie Bean (guess why? :-) ) and Princess to my
    dad. When I had my first son I called him Michael Bean and then
    just Bean...he still answers to 'Bean' on occasion...the next
    two were called Pumpkin and Pickel for a while but that didn't
    stick as much. My youngest has had the most nicknames... Mouse,
    mousie, munchkin, munchie, Jessl, jessielee...and I know that
    there have been more...my husband used to call me Kitty and or
    Puppy...(I won't go into why :-) ) tho the only nickname I have
    for him is honey :-).  I couldn't live without nicknames.
    
    Bonnie

    
    Re: .1
    
         'Boo-Boo Blazek?'  Oh Carla, I can't let you live that one
    down.
    
         I think it is fun to make up names that are known only to myself
    and my favorite human.  Of course, that means that I can't tell
    you folks what I call her.
    
                                   Greg
    

    Is that "Bubba" Bruno I hear talking? You mean "Daddy Longlegs"
    has some other name? Never mind, must be someone else.
    
    I call my sweetie all sorts of embarrassing things, "sweetie",
    "snookie", "nonnie", "pootie-pie" (pootie-pie?! yep. love that Calvin
    and Hobbes), when we're mad at each other we call each other "dear", as
    in "Yes dear." said in an extremely flat tone of voice.
    
    "sweetie" comes from Peanuts (Snoopy calls everyone sweetie, even
    Lucy), "snookie" comes from "snookie wookie unkie bunkums" It's a good
    thing blushes don't show through a terminal! That phrase started as a
    way of making fun of her when she was "pouting", as in "Awww, poor
    widdle snookie wookie unky bunkums, didum hurt your knee?" This
    usually resulted in her punching me. :-) It grew into a pet name
    we call each other. Nonnie came from one of her nieces who, when
    she was small, couldn't pronounce "mommy" and called Janice's sister
    "nonnie". We thought it was cute, so we call each other that now.
    It's sort of special, we don't use it in public much. Pootie-pie,
    of course, is of much more recent vintage. It comes from Calvin
    and Hobbes (8/29/87 if you MUST know). The scene is Calvin and Hobbes
    walking through the woods, talking:
    
    	Calvin:	I'm never gonna get married. Are you?
    	Hobbes:	Hmm... I suppose if the right person came along, I might.
    	H:	Somebody with green eyes and a nice laugh, who I could
		call "Pooty Pie".
    	C:	POOTY PIE??
    	H:	or "Bitsy Pookums." [said with a big grin]
    	C:	I think that would affect my stomach a lot more than
    		my heart.
    	H:	"Bitsy Pookums," I'd say. "Yes, Snoogy Woogy," she'd
    		reply...
    
    Pet names, I love 'em!
    
    	-- Charles

    I call my son Ratley--I say it prevents him from being one--if he's
    one already he doesn't have to try.  He has also been called Bear
    and Kuma-San (Honorable Bear), but Ratley has stuck.
    
    Actually, I usually use nicknames for other, somewhat meaner purposes.
     In my last job (at UMASS) I called the boss His Royal No-Goodhood,
    and another woman in the department WB (for wicked bitch).

    
    
    My daughter is MOONshine, and my son is SONshine - they are the
    sun and the moon to me.  We also use the name Fred, Phred, and 
    name-Pooh.  I get a lot of messages on my answering machine from
    Fred of a different voice.
    
    There are the "yes dear", "Oh, name dear" and other ways of being
    cute that means "I want something from you and I want it now."
    
    _peggy
    
    		(-)
    		 |	Honey-pie, sweetie, snookums, cutie, Pooh bear,
    			cuddleque, and many more.
    
    

    I call my husband "Poop" - I know it sounds awful but its suppose
    to be a sweetie name.  I got it from my mom...she use to call my
    brother and I "my little poopies".  This is more embarrassing than
    I thought.  It looks funnier written down then when it is said.
    Honest.  I also call my husband  honey-bunches and sweet-stuff.
    
    I like snookums and Pooh bear - I will have to try those out.

      I call Donna, my wife, wifey-poo....
    
             REK

    I call Paul lots of things: Angel, Nice Person (most common), Pumpkin
    (when he claims he is tired but won't go to bed), Wierdlet (when
    he does something inexplicable - I call the cats that, too, in the
    same circumstances), and probably several other things - but he
    answers to most of them most of the time, so it must be OK!  His
    mother thinks it is a bit strange when I call him Angel - he was
    probably about as bratty a child as I was (and I was pretty bad!).

    Several years back a particularly inane commercial (for sweaters,
    I think) used the line:
    
     "You can boogie in 'em, woogie in 'em,
      Wrap your little schnoogie in 'em"
    
    Later variations on "shnoogie" included "schnoogs" and "schnoogums".
    
    Never did "cute-name" the cat, but after all, what can you do when
    his full name is "J. Fujington Dinkweed, Esq. Pats. Pend."  Everybody
    just calls him "the Fuj" (pronounced "foooj")
    
    I too like the topic, Lee.  Nice to have more light than heat for
    a change, even if it is "Light Lite"
    
    Steve
    

    
    The only time Rich and I use each other's "real" names, is when
    we either want something, or one of us has been bad. ("RICHARD!,
    what is this popsicle wrapper doing on the kitchen table!", or
    "Riichhh? Could you pleaasee do a favor for me?)
    
    When we are in public I usually call Rich darlin' or sweetheart.
    Rich usually calls me darlinG or sweetie, or sweetheart.
    
    When we are alone....Oops!  I can't tell you what we call each other
    when we are alone - it's tooo cuute, and besides that, Rich would
    murder me!
    
    Bye!
    
    Corinne
    

    When Karen (my first ex-wife) and I were teenagers, and first 
    started going together, I called her Fluffy and she called me Floppy.
    
    We used to call our children, collectively, when they were young,
    Kidlets.
    
    I used to, endearingly, call Jill (my second ex) Jill-Pill and
    Turkey-Nose. Maybe that's why she's my second ex. :-) Very good,
    Alan!! 
    
    Now I just refer to her as "that a**hole".
    
      Alan

    when my sister and I were little, "Maude" and "George" were common
    calls when she wasn't sure which was closer, Emily or me.  As for
    significant otherses, various euphemisms, past and present, for
    fun and frolic, include (but are not limited to): Cupcake, Sweetness
    and Light, Snoodjy-woodjums, stud-muffin, cuddlekins, etc....

    -Jody
    

    My mother called me Chickadee.
    
    Shellie and I usually call each other Bear.  Occasionally we will
    use the "official" terms: Honey-Bear, Sugar-Bear, etc.
    
    Now for the "kids", our 4 cats, we have several nicknames, depending
    on how much trouble they are getting into.  We don't usually call
    the cats these names to their faces, but use them as a code so they
    won't know that we are talking about them.  Sasha (the youngest)
    has the most: Munchkin, Munch, The Munch, Halloween (she is calico,
    so has orange and black), Squirt, Trouble, Young One, etc.  My
    favorite, though, is the one I use for Deborah when she is causing
    trouble.  I call her "Your Daughter".  :-)
    
                    Carol

        I call my wife Lesley - Les, Lester, Babe, and sweetie.
    
        We call our son Colin - The Boof, Boof, Boofa boy, and big guy.
    We had more nicknames for him when he was an infant, but those are
    the names which stuck.
    
        Somtimes when Colin (whos 2 1/2) needs his mom he'll call out
    "BABE, COME HERE, I NEED YOU".  We can't help laughing when he calls
    her Babe.
    
    ASP

    Lessee, Noah (my cat) is Tubbo (short for Tub o'Lard) and Lardo
    when he's being a cute pain in the rear, and he's <all sorts of
    unintelligible noises> when he's being extra cuddly.
    
    I have yet to run across a lover who doesn't get uptight with most of
    my affectionate names, so I stick to "good lookin'" on the most uptight
    ones, "hon" on those who can cope a bit better and "sweetie" on the
    most affectionate ones.  
    
    A friend at work (male) called me "Babe" once (as in "hi Babe, how's
    it going"), and I just responded in kind (as in "heya good lookin',
    how's life").  A day later he came back and asked me if I minded
    that, if he was being sexist, etc.  I pooh-poohed, saying that we
    were pretty good friends so it's no sweat, and if I didn't like
    it I would have told him so in the first place...
    
    Similarly for the guys who have called me "spike" ('cause of my
    hair) or "Miss Tatootoo" (in fear of mis-pronouncing my name _again_).
    While in a business context I might have flipped out, they're
    _friends_.
    
    So I guess the men I have known use nick-names where I use "love
    names"...
    
    Still, it's nice to know _some_ of y'all put up with "pookie", "cutie",
    etc. What with the male reaction I had seen before (dad, lovers, male
    friends), I just assumed pure dread of excessive verbal expressions of
    affection was _programmed_ in to that Y-chromosome...:) 
    
    Lee

    
    Re: .4
    
         Wait a MINUTE, Charles.  "Daddy Longlegs" is my BROTHER!  I
    realize that you may not have known that, but anyway, we don't have
    pet names in my family.  My pet names are reserved for that one
    pinnacle of femininity that makes my life worth living.  ...and
    I still aint gonna tell you what I call her.
    
                                  Greg
    

    I don't think I am up to sharing all the endearments I use for my
    honey. However, my son (who is now taller than I am) started off
    by being "Boo Boo Bear" (yes, from the Yogi Bear show), which after
    awhile got shortened to "Boo Bear" or even "Bear."
    
    For a time he was "Mung Boo". This was a reference to both the Kung
    Fu TV series and the mess a toddler can make of food when eating
    without any teeth.

    Now he is mostly David or Kidling. When my snookems and I talk about
    him in the 3rd person (sometimes when he is present) we refer to
    "The Boo." He has given up trying to make us not do this since we
    don't do it in front of his friends (very often).

    PK

    I call my husband 'snuggles' most of the time because it's a favorite
    activity of ours.  I've also been known to call him 'sweet stuff'
    and we both call each other 'dear'.  I think we started using 'dear'
    as in 'yes, dear' with that sarcastic tone and it just sort of stuck,
    so we use that a lot.  He calls me 'tweetie' or 'tweetlet' a lot.
    That was sort of a take-off on 'sweetie' that got mangled.
    
    Cathy

    i call my sweet pet's pet an "air mouse". i haven't seen it yet,
    but she certainly has...
    
    i use "furfuss" for everyone in the house who has a furry face,
    human or feline...
    
    then there's harpoon/harpooniac (for harpo), mystofer (for misty),
    ms puss, mr. tail, and orange thing...

    Honey, Honey-baby, Sugar-nummies, Sweat-honey, Sweatie, Sweatheart...
    

    	I use my wife's name when speaking with her.  The words dear
    and honey sometimes enter into conversations but only through laziness.
     
    	When referred to as Douglas, I respond properly.  When a shorter
    version of my name, or any other word, is used my ability to hear, 
    which is not all that good at the best of times, diminishes.     
    
    	In the office, I respond to Doug simply because I recognize
    the great difficulty many people have in respecting the wishes of
    other people.
    
    Douglas

    
    My mother used to call me "monkey" until I pointed out that she
    must be of the "gorilla" variety.  Now she calls me "Dar Dar" or just
    plain "Dar".  Other friends have shortened it further to "D".
    
    When my husband is trying to be funny, he calls me his little
    "Pork Chop".  When he's being SLIGHTLY romantic (mostly silly),
    he calls me "Sugar Buns".  
    
    For the most part, I just call him "Sweetie", "Sweetheart" and the
    like.  When he has hurt himself or is not feeling well, I address
    him with "Poor Boopie", or "Poor Puddah".  
    
    This topic has given me many other ideas that I can't wait to try.

    Hmm, When  my brother and I were young my father called us greater
    and  lesser  monster  (being older, I was the greater monster). My
    little  sister  is  the Baby Rascal (having outgrown Little, Tiny,
    Baby Rascal) or sometimes "The Baiby" (a poor imitation of what an
    Australian friend called her).

    Now I'm  Witt to a lot of people and DK (my initials) to my father
    and  an  ex-girlfriend.  A different ex-girlfriend used to call me
    "tsatskelah"  (Yiddish for little treasure, but hinting at a minor
    nuisance.)

    What did  I  call  my  girlfriends?  I  don't think they'd want it
    published.

--David

    more names for SO's :  cuddlecakes, snugglebunny.

    family names abound.  My mother's distant relatives, in the form
    of cousins and aunts and uncles and such, go by nicknames such as
    "Twissie and Wissie", "Razzle and Dazzle".  My mother calls my father
    Bibi, my father calls my mother Dee.  My grandmother called my
    grandfather "Chazzie" (short for Charles).  Various groups of cousins
    now call him "Pusses" (short for daddy-pusses, my aunt's response
    to being called kitten-pusses when she was young), Dada, and
    Grandfeathers.  
        
    my sister's name is Emily, but there was a little girl down the
    street who couldn't say it correctly - thus she was labeled 
    "I'm-a-weed" for a little while at the tender age of 5.  

    likewise, some friends down the street had a collie who was chasing
    birds one day and was jumping to catch them.  The youngest daughter 
    thought she was trying to fly.  Thus the dog was nicknamed "iggledog" 
    (eagle-dog).
    
    I tend to coo a lot at my gerbils and make lots of kissyface noises,
    as they seem to respond positively by coming over to my side of
    the cage to see "what's up".  They probably like this better than
    cute names, but I s'pose I'll never know for sure.  On occasion
    they are "tufted fuzzballs" and "sweeties" and the like.
    
    -Jody
    

    I call him "magic" and he calls me his "miracle."  I tried calling
    him "huggie-bear" once and gotten threatened with a bar of soap.
    :-)
    
    I've also been called "the Elf" by friends and family for years.
    
    Carol :-)
    

    
    
         OK  How come I haven't seen 'sweet knees' or 'snuggle butt',
    yet?  
    
                                 Greg
    

    Mostly, David is sweetheart or darling, or my "heater".  He
    occasionally calls me spinach-face (don't ask).
    
    Gloria

         when my nephew was first born he was such a ham.  i coined 
him "Goober" and later "Goob" or "Big Goob!".  it stuck even as he gets 
older...  i wonder how he'll feel when he knows what's going on? :-)

    Pooch (check the node name)....  Pant... Poopie Pant.... Miss P.
    P. Pant...  We call my oldest sister Mimi.. my brother surf...
    and my other sister pain....  and the friends I hung around with
    when I was younger were know as Pooch's gang...
    
    Pam 

Cat Name: (Pandora, Verrissa, Sambuca)

Fat Cat = Pandora
Hair Ball = Any Cat when their being a pain
Fur Ball  = Any Cat when their getting hugged and cuddled
PurrBall  = Any Cat when they are purring

Chiya = Spanish 'little girl'
Talitha = Greek/Hebrew 'little girl'

Jim.

    
         I've always found interesting the pet name that Charlie Brown's
    little sister, Sally, had for her beloved Linus.  It was 'My Sweet
    Baboo'.  I later found out that it was an actual word in Swahili
    meaning loved one (specifically a grand parent, I think).
    
                                     Greg
    

    For my SO;
    	'sweetheart', 'mean thing' or 'sweet thing' or
    	'sweetie-pie-pumpkin-lover'
    
    for my birds;
    	'sweet little babies' or 'poopy birds'
    
    from my Mom (for me);
    	'Tefie-Befie'  
    
    theresa.

    Pet names.  Family names.  Nick names.  Lessee...

    Two of the names that my middle sister and her husband sometimes 
    call me are "Dirty-C" and "Gah-Girl".

    "Dirty-C" is something like 20 years old... when I was young I 
    evidently didn't clean my room very much, and _never_ cleaned 
    under the bed.  I think it has something to do with giant dust 
    balls escaping from behind the spread.

    "Gah-girl" is even older, originating when I was about 10 or so, 
    given to me by a neighbor boy who was known as Pachyderm, later 
    shortened to Packy.  Gah-girl derives from G.A., or General 
    Achievement: in the junior high school that I was destined to attend, 
    students within each grade were grouped homogenously according to 
    their abilities, and though I can't remember all the tracks, the 
    lowest was G.A.  Packy used to tease me about being put into that 
    track.

    Some pet names I've had in the past are Prize and Little O -- both 
    of these given to me by someone I called Big G -- these derived from 
    a cereal manufacturer's commercial, circa 1970, with the slogan "Big
    G, Little O -- means GO!"  I have no idea why we adopted them.  I also 
    remember barking at each other like seals, while flapping our hands 
    spastically like flippers... Someone I called JT used to call me 
    Queer-bug (childhood taunt), which then somehow evolved into
    Bug-juice, sometimes just Juice.
    
    Don't really have any now...

    CQ

    My nephew, born Christopher, was called "Fa Fa" by his younger brother
    who, at the time, couldn't say his name.  His last name is Folino.
     So, he was Fa Fa lino.  Then Mark (the younger) brother was called:
    Marky-lino.
    
    My niece is Cara, but to us she's Cara Bara.
    
    I'm Cat, Cath or Hun, and when I'm feeling ill I'm called "Poor
    Honey".
    
    Cathy 

    I started calling my husband "Bunny", and he in turn calls me "Bunna".
     Something about spanish words having a male and female gender.
     He never calls me by my name unless he's angry, which isn't very
    often.  The kids are our "conejitos" (little rabbits).
    
    Our daughter, Aleida, is "vieja" (which means old lady [she's all
    of 7]), or "dita" which doesn't mean anything, but just sort of
    evolved. Our son, Esteban, is "tito", which doesn't mean anything
    that I know of either, except that they do make good tacos at a
    restaurant of the same name.  I don't think that I'll ever understand
    spanish nicknames/pet names at all. I could tell 'ya 'bout my
    inlaws........
    
    D. Marie

    These notes on pet names are very refreshing and amusing.
    so, to add to the amusement...
    When we were young,
    my sister Andrea Renee' was Renatagonzata, or Nay,
    my other sister Regina Denise was neeseegirl, now it's Gina
    I was Annettaburger,
    my brother William Eugene was Bubba, (ok we *are* from the South)
    later evolved into Billy, and finally settled on Geno...
    I call my SO, Hon, Sweetie, babe, sugar, schoog (sounds like the
    first half of sugar).  He calls me Slim, Hon, lil'cooder, or 
    ram-buck-o, (a combo of Rambo and Bacot)
    
    Angela Annette Bacot
    
    
    
    

    I call my wife "Muai" or "pi'muai" ( in Tai dialects the "pi'-" prefix
    is an honorific... however I don't care to translate these without
    considerable explanation.)
    
    Anyway she calls me "Loong Pet" which means "Uncle Duck" (we went to see
    "Howard the Duck" and she's been calling me this ever since...) 
                
    /. Ian .\

    
    I call my fiance "Sweetie", "Tweetie", "Goo" from Gumby and Pokey,
    "Cuddles", "Cute bum", and whatever sounds cute at the time.
    
    She calls me "Tweetiebird", "Snookums", "Cuddles", "Snuggles", (this
    is getting tiring ... as she is dictating to me ), "Roastbeef
    sandwich", "Lambchop".
    
    Ain't we the cutesy couple? :^) %:^)

    Is anyone besides me reading this file and feeling totally uncreative
    because you've never called anyone who wasn't a) under the age of
    3 or b) four-legged anything 'cute' in your life?
    
    :-8

    RE: .44
    
    	Yeah, I thought I was the only one!!
    

    re: .44 and .45
    
    I feel the same way....
    

I hate "cute"...  I hate being called "cute".  'Cuteness' implies smallness,
passiveness, defenselessness, helplessness, and having blue skin.  Cuteness is
an insult.  Smurf's are "cute".  I hate Smurf's.  The only thing cuter then a
Smurf is a dead Smurf.

Jim. :->

    well, you see, finding out whether or not other people get a saccharine
    sweet with their honeys was the point --> I seem to have run into
    people who do _not_ use (or permit the use of) such terms with people.
    
    So don't feel funny; I've met more people who _don't_ use these
    terms than _do_.
    
    lt

    The only thing cuter than a Smurf is a dead smurf?  ... Jim, Jim,
    Jim ... there's hope for you yet_:-)
    

    
    re .47
    
    My 7 year old thinks you are a barbarian.
    
    Dead Smurfs, indeed!

    Re: .47
    
    Oh Jimmy, you're so *cute* when you get mad...
    
    	:-)
    
    	-- Charles "don't call me Chuck" Haynes

    Lee, you have a good point.
    
    I don't know how I'd feel if an SO started calling me sweet names.
    If they were witty, I'd enjoy it, and if they were just terminally
    cute (sorry, Jim, that's how it feels to me), I think I'd discourage
    it.
    
    Holly
    who may be a philistine after all...

    EVERYBODY, absolutely everybody calls me by a silly pet name!
    They all me "Leaser", or at least the people who *aren't* from New
    England do.  It's been going on for years, I can't do anything about
    it!  
    
    <sigh>  If I had someone to come home to, she/he would 
    probably call me Big-Wielder-of-the-Can-Opener 
    (pronounced "Miaooooow"-nudge-nudge).

    	I too, agree, that the only good Smurf is a dead Smurf but...
    
    	Since my freshman year in college, I have had a habit of giving
    people nicknames (rather than pet names.)  My college years were
    full of people named "Disco", "The Admiral", "The Pole", "Mr Bill",
    "The Incredible Organ", "The Watch Bat", "Leighness", "Auntie Ingrid"
    and a lot more I can't think of at the moment.  Not all the nicknames
    were given by me, but all were used commonly.
    
    	After college, my roommate and I had a habit of nicknaming the
    women in our lives.  [Please don't flame me for these - there was
    no mailice in any of them] We had such classics as "The Wife", "The
    Paper Wench", "The Nard Wench", "The Tot", and his (now) wife is still
    "Soup" to me.
    
    					--Doug

    Its interesting to see how similar some of these names are. For
    instance someone mentioned "snugglebunny" and I used to be called
    "snugglepuss" by a previous boyfriend. Incidentally the same boyfriend
    once confessed to me a nickname that his previous girlfriend called
    him ( and those who hate *cute* can take heart ), after comparing
    him to a snail in a shell because he used to be shy, when he stopped
    being so shy, he earnt himself the name of Mega-Slug.
    
    (I think I got off lightly!)

    yes, and when you've got that down, how about teaching them to poop
    in the toilet (and flush afterwards), wash the dishes, and carry
    out the garbage on tuesday mornings? oh yes, and while we're at
    it, perhaps they could drive themselves to the vet and not be such
    babies about going!
    
    e

    re:.56
    
    No, Jim. Never, *EVER*, teach a cat how to open a can itself.
    That's asking for trouble.
    
    re:.57
    
    One of my housemate's cats went through a period where he used the
    the toilet for urinating. Never learned how to flush it, though.
    
    --- jerry

    Sweetie, furball, beautiful cat, sillycat, fuzzball, catatonic,
    purrball, snugglebunny
    
    

    Weasel, fiend, ugly white thing, pale piece of pig's ear,
    creep, wretch, blimp...
    
    :-)
    
    --- jerry

    Jerry, you forgot: 
    
    	scum
    	brown noise  		(suitable for the talkative sealpoint)
        flea bag
    	floating-fur farm
    
    :-)
    
    Oh, deer, I seem to have ruined this topic.  Sorry!
    
    When I have had a human around to give pet names to, I usually only
    did it to tease in an affectionate way.                          

    I have the alarming habit of talking to humans as if they were cats.
    Sometimes it seems like all good people are cats!
    
    I call most siameses SiaMOOSE or SiaMOUSE.  Brown noise is great!
    
    Hey, Maggie, tell us about your cats' names!
    
    
    
    

I once had a friend who lived on a farm...  Their family had a dozen cats.
When we went over his house for the first time, I asked him what the cats
names were.  He looked at me for a moment, and then told me that they had
no names.  I asked why, and he thought for another minute, and said,


"What's the sense of naming something that won't come when you call it?"

Jim :-)

   Indoor cats learn their names with no trouble at all, it is the
    sound that means 'come be fed' or 'come here and be petted'.
    
    :-)

    On the other hand in our house recently "Kaang [Luk] Mowl" has come
    to be a noise that makes the cats run and hide...
    
    /. Ian .\
    
    
    
    It means "cat [or kitten] curry" - and is what my wife threatened the
    little fur-bags with when they ate her house plants or tried to grind
    down their claws on the furniture.
    
    Fortunately the kittens have now been adopted courtesy of FELINE notes.
    
    Hopefully India will stop eating the plants or she might become a nice
    pair of black fur gloves and a bowl of curry.
    
    

    <--(.65)
    
    Ian, please don't even *joke* that way!!  
    
    						=maggie

    re: .66 
    
    Maggie, haven't you ever heard of CATciotore?
    
    Curry sounds quite superior . . .
    
    --bonnie

    Any more dead furball jokes and Maggie will be catatonic...
                         
    

    Sorry about that: India is in season at the moment and I haven't been
    getting much sleep as a result...
    
    /. Ian .\

    Ian, could I trouble you for the recipe ? My chili didn't go over
    big at the last _WN_ party and I was thinking..... >8-)
    
    Dana

    re: .68 
    
    Dead furballs?  No, no, Holly, you skin them before you put them into
    the pot.  That way you have a nice furry skin for slippers, plus no cat
    hair in your catciatore. 
    
    I know, that sounds really gross.  But substitute 'cow' for 'cat'
    and nobody minds.  Peculiar, huh?
    
    --bonnie

    Again, I beshrew myself for having animated this dogged "pet" name rathole.

A real catastrophe, eh Lisa?

Martin.

    no more anti-cat comments, please.
    
    liz the moderator being very serious

I dunno, Liz, the note topic is PET NAMES for your sweetie,
(he said, catachrestically).

    martin, 
    
    i love the pet names. i love the puns. i don't like the dead cat
    comments. (some of my best friends are cats... (apologies if this
    strikes some as canist)) 
        
    liz 
        
        
    p.s. catachrestically? it's not in my lbd... hope it doesn't appear in
    the next harper's double crostic... 

    in re .81 Liz, I looked it up in my unabridged last night..for
    a small fee I will be willing to give out the definition :-)
    
    Bonnie Jeanne

    well, my lbd (does that count as a pet name?) _is_ an "office
    edition"... the editors must have decided that the word wouldn't
    get much use in a business environment. i'll bite. what's it mean?

    I know this is off the topic, but I'm seriously curious --
    
    Liz, I'm assuming you're not a total vegetarian.  If you are, the
    question's meaningless.
    
    But why is it that you find the idea of cooking a cat so much more
    offensive than the idea of cooking a cow, or a lamb?  So offensive,
    in fact, that it's not to be joked about?
    
    I'm sure you're not the only one who feels this way.
    
    I don't mean to be snide, or derisive, or anything, here.  I'm just
    curious about the phenomenon.

    --bonnie

    Liz (and others) The definition, as I remember it anyway, will
    follow a form feed (so as to not entirely spoil Martin's joke!)
    
    
    catachrestically means the misuse or incorrect use of words.

re .84    
      
    bonnie, 
        
    it turns out that i _am_ a vegetarian. i started going off meat in the
    third grade and completed the process in the beginning of the eighth
    grade (fall of 1970 -- it's been a long time). i do eat fish (though
    not creatures in shells). i'm pretty particular about the kinds of fish
    i eat, and i occasionally have trouble getting it down. i also have a
    hard time with eggs sometimes. each person must create her personal
    line between acceptable and non-acceptable behavior. 
            
    i am offended by the idea of cooking a chicken or a lamb (ugh) or a
    cow. i am not judging other people for doing this, but it's not
    something i want to do right now. i don't try to convert others, and i
    expect the same treatment from them (translates to: i don't react well
    to conversion tactics or criticism surrounding my own belief system). 
        
                
    also, i'm very close to cats (i'm currently not so close to other
    animals except humans). i assume you wouldn't enjoy dead baby jokes,
    and that you'd be upset to see them in the file. dead cat jokes don't
    appeal to me, and i'm not alone on this. people develop sensitivities. 
        
    now, can we _please_ get back to the topic of "pet names for your
    sweetie"? (i'm willing to continue this conversation in a separate
    note).
    
        
    liz 

    Re: .86
    
    Liz, thanks for taking time to answer this.  Yes, from your point 
    of view that's perfectly consistent and perfectly understandable. 
    No more cooked anything jokes. 
    
    I can't say I can understand taking an animal as seriously as a
    human, but I will respect your feeling.
    
    --bonnie
    

Cats-22

Cats-Stevens

P.C. (personal citty:  pronounce the "c" hard, of course!)    

    We have a cat named Garrison.
    
    So named because he's a purry home companion...

    Actually, life is much nicer if you don't take humans as seriously
    as you take cats.

    Yes, they put their little noses up against your face and say, "I
    luv you, Mom."
    

    Don't you hate it when a note topic takes a turn and runs off into
    hyperspace before you get a chance to read it and reply on the topic?
    
    Any one have old "sweet" names that they don't anyone use any more?
    
    Many years ago, a woman that I loved very much used to call me
    Mikie.  I loved it at the time (I'd lap up sign of affection as
    I was mostly unrequited).  Now I don't let anyone use it, I
    brings back too many painful memories.
    
    An if anyone jokes about that old "Life" cereal commercial...look
    out.
    
    "Let's get Mikie.." - arrgh...
    
    					MJC O->

    Since I read Maggie's and Liz's requests not to make any "dead
    cat" jokes before I had the opportunity to make them, I have
    refrained.
    
    However, I will point out that I make "dead cat" (and "cooking cat")
    jokes all the time, and I'm as much a cat lover as anyone here
    (the same is true of my mother). But then, I'm of the school that
    feels that there is *no* subject too sacred to make jokes about.
    
    --- jerry

    
    When I was working as an ambulance attendant in LA, we
    had a 3 legged cat living in the office as our mascot.
    His name was Baby Mao... he got along well with the staff
    but ha to fight the neighbor cats who came over the fence.

    pet names for my longhair cat : fluffalo, purrfur, dustmop.
   
    pet names for my sweetie : I'll never tell... :-)
    
    			Bb 

    Re: .96
    
    >pet names for my sweetie : I'll never tell... :-)
    
         See?  Someone agrees with my philosophy.
    
                               Greg
    

    Pet names for pets:
    
    	Fuzzbutt, stinkface, pooter, muffin, meatloaf, dummy, purr-box,
    	stupid, greedy-guts, cutie-pie, lump, fuzzy-face, teddi-boy,
    	little girl.
    
    All said in the sweetest possible tone of voice of course.
    
    	-- Charles
    
    P.S. I must admit I collect gross jokes too...

    My dad had a cat named matzoh ball, which described the contents
    of her brain cavity rather well. He also had the Red Baron, who
    used to catch pigeons and play with them under my dad's bed.
    
    liz

    Pet names for our kitty: 
    
    fur face, kawasaki engine (she's a loud purrer), fur brain, her royal
    highness, her furiness, bean brain, little kitty, fussy face, fruit
    cake. 
    

    We just give pet names to every member of the family, be it cats,
    dog, rabbit, children, parents. They change all the time, and are
    a lot of fun. Some of the current ones are:
    
    Boubouille for Barbouille (cat)
     
    Bibiche for Chiffonne (cat)
    
    Sac-a-puce (flea-bag), Saucisson (sausage), Pupuce (little flea)
    for Sandy (dog)
    
    Tortue (tortoise), Biquette (little she-goat), Toutoune, Pupuce,
    Pucotte d'or (little golden flea), Minette (little she-cat), Perle
    d'Or (golden pearl) for assorted daughters.
    
    While I write this, I notice that we have many more pet names for
    the children and the dog than for the cats ... Wonder what it's
    a sign of ???
    
    As for my husband and I, the names we give each other are just plain
    nice-ridiculous, like Dearie, Treasure, Darling, Sweet-Heart, and
    so on ad nauseam. We do this even when we fight, which usually helps
    ending in laughter. How can you be serious saying: "Now, Little
    Treasure, I'll be damned if I'll take this attitude from you..."
                                                          
    My husband is lousy at remembering names, so he has solved it by
    calling all the females of the house, be they human or animal,
    "Cherie". In times of stress, we can all pretend he is shouting
    at somebody else!
    
    Joana
    

    My cat Freddie becomes his full name Freddie Katz when he's being
    mischievous, but cute.