pet names

Here's my punishment for putting a secret breakup spell on all couples who call each other "bunny."

While a pair's secret languages may annoy outsiders, those incoherent mumblings may also be the secret to relationship success, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships reports. Here's an excerpt from a recent article about the findings:

"You are saying, symbolically, that you care enough about the other person and the relationship to develop your own way of speaking," says Carol Bruess, Ph.D., the director of family studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a co-author of "Belly Button Fuzz and Bare-Chested Hugs: What Happy Couples Do." "You've got your own private world, your own mini culture."

A potential redeeming value to baby talk doesn't mean I have to stop making fun of the couples who use it.

What's the most annoying pet name you've heard...or used?