It has become one of the most common terms of endearment used by couples, but 'babe' has been voted the most hated pet name for women. The term, made popular by Sonny and Cher's Sixties hit I Got You Babe, come out on top in a new study.

“Babe(宝贝)”一次虽然是情侣间最常用于表示亲昵的词，但最近一项调查显示，女性最讨厌“babe”这个昵称。“babe”一词曾因为Sonny和 Cher's Sixties的名曲《I Got You Babe》而为人熟知，但在最新的一项调查中被投票为女性最讨厌的昵称。

‘Sweetcheeks’, ‘snookums’ and ‘muffin’ were also a definite no no, but terms such as ‘gorgeous’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘lovely’ were considered acceptable.

“Sweetcheeks(甜妞)”“snookums(小甜心)”“muffin(可指帅哥/美女)”等昵称都是女性雷区，但“迷人的”“美丽的”“可爱的”则可以接受。

Americanised nicknames like ‘baby girl’ and ‘baby doll’ are also unpopular, along with ‘pudding’ and ‘pumpkin’. The research also revealed that only one in five Britons calls their partner by their full name the majority of the time, with the same number admitting to using a private nickname when no-one else is around.

美式的昵称如“baby girl(小宝贝)”“baby doll(洋娃娃)”，还有“pudding(布丁)”“pumpkin(小南瓜)”也不受女性欢迎。该调查同时披露，只有五分之一的英国人会在大多数时间叫另一半的全名，同样还有五分之一的人承认会在没有别人在场时叫另一半的私密昵称。

Many of the men who took part in the study also confessed to referring to their partner with terms they would only use while she was out of earshot. ‘The Mrs’ or ‘the wife’ were still used by some men, while one in six quietly referred to their partner as ‘the boss’.

参与调查的很多男士也承认另一半不在身边时会以特别称谓来指代另一半，比如一些人常用的“The Mrs(夫人)”“The wife(妻子)”，而且还有六分之一的男士悄悄承认会喊他们的另一半“the boss(领导/老板)”。

‘Her indoors’ was also a popular name for an absent wife or girlfriend, while one in 14 brave men had dubbed their loved one ‘The ball and chain’. 'Pet names between partners are usually used as a way to show a little regular affection but some are clearly better than others,’ says a spokesman for Siteopia.com, who commissioned the study. ‘Whether using the more common terms like “babe” or “darling” or some of the more modern terms, the research shows the ones we choose for our partner can have very differing impacts.

“Her indoors(当家的)”也是英国男士在妻子或女朋友不在时常用的称呼，还有1/14的勇敢男士给自己的爱侣授予了“The ball and chain(甜蜜的枷)”的称号。“情侣间的昵称是用来表达日常感情的方式，但有些昵称明显比其他的好。”安排此次调查的Siteopia.com网站的一位发言人说道，“研究表明，无论是使用诸如‘babe(宝贝)’‘darling(亲爱的)’还是其他更时尚的称谓，我们为我们的另一半所选择的昵称会有截然不同的效果。”

'There’s a lot of power in a name and each one throws up different connotations so it’s important to know which ones will flatter a partner and which are definitely not going to have the right effect.’

昵称包含了很多言外之意，每个昵称都有不同的暗示，所以弄清楚哪些昵称会使另一半开心，而哪些可能起反作用很重要。

One in ten husbands and boyfriends admitted they let their partner call them a soppy nickname they would dread their friends ever finding out. Meanwhile one in ten Britons surveyed revealed that they were left embarrassed when others discovered their private nickname, with 44 per cent accidentally using it when others were around.

十分之一的男士承认会让他们的另一半给自己取一个情意绵绵以至于不敢让朋友知道的昵称。与此同时，十分之一的受访英国男士透露，曾有被他人知道这些私密昵称而让自己处于尴尬境地的经历，44%都是碰巧在其他人在场的情况下使用这样的昵称。

‘Of course personal nicknames, when born out of affection, are a nice thing for partners to have between one another,’ added the spokesman. ‘Although as we’ve seen they aren’t always names we want shared publicly. ‘There’s a lot to be read from a name, and sometimes using too strongly cliched or overly-soppy pet names for someone we like will just be seen as insincere.’

“当然，那些本身充满爱意的个人昵称对于情侣是一件好事，虽然这些昵称并不是我们愿意在大众面前分享的。”该发言人补充道，“一个名字能解读出很多含义，有时候用太刻板或太肉麻的昵称反而会显得不够真诚。”

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（来源：沪江英语  编辑：Julie）