Terms of Endearment

With the inspiration from other blogs, (thank you Sarah and Jillian), I'm going to make smaller posts, so that my blog reads a little cleaner, and a little less overwhelming for my readers, your welcome.

In English, we use honey, baby, sugar, ect. to show our "carino" or affection, but in Latin America, it's a lifetime habit used for even people you barely know. I can't help but feel all warm inside when the 60 year old toothless lady that owns the "comedor" or little restaurant down the street, says to me, ¨I look forward to seeing you again my little queen.¨

This first shortest blog post ever by me, haha, will be a Spanish lesson: a list of terms of endearment used in Latin America. Typically, they're introduced with mi (meaning my), and by removing the last vowel, and adding an ita, the diminutive, you invoke even more tenderness. For example, "Mi reina," means my queen, while "Mi reinita," means my little queen. More endearing. The following list are words that have been addressed to me over the years.

Joven (cita) My Young one
Carino (ita) My Caring one
Querida My Dear (Dominican)
Linda My Pretty
Chica Linda My pretty girl
Cancha (ita) Blondie (Guatemala)
Macha (ita) Blondie (Costa Rica)
Rubia (ita) Blondie (General)
Reina (ita) My Queen
Cielo My Heaven
Mama (ita) Doesn't translate, baby, or little mama?
Corazon (cita) My Heart
Mija My daughter (conflation of mi and hija)
Gringita Little gringa girl (not common, but not offensive either)
Guapa Good looking
Angel (ita) Little angel
Amor My love
Vida My life
Muneca Doll
Dulce (ita) My sweet

Some "terms of endearment" that would never fly in the U.S.

Chino (ito) Chinese person (used for any person with slant eyes)
Gordo (ito) Fat one
Flaca Skinny one
Moreno Brown one
Negro (ito) Black one