The Audio is available at I can Speak Russian podcast
Episode 3
SWEET WORDS
Today I want to tell you about other sweet names which Russians use in romantic or best friends conversations.
the most popular, of course is baby детка
детка. different from english, in russian culture, girls barely say that to a man. we say детка to ladies. i can say that to my female friends.
If you want to know how you can call someone you date, look at this. In Russian language we have different suffixes that change the meaning of a word. And to make a sweet name, Russians take a word for an animal and add a suffix to the ending
Based on Cat ( кот):
Котик, some girls call their boyfriends like that
котенок a kitten. A young man can call his girlfriend котенок
котенок
киса, кисюша kitty female
Despite female kitty-words are mostly for naming girls, it is acceptable to say like that to a man as well, it can be used in the greeting, in a question or in an agreement. For example:
Кисюша, чем занимаешься?
Those cat-based words are suitable for people in a relationship. you can not say like that to a friend.
There are other animal-based words.
Зайчик little rabbit
Рыбка little fish
Those suit to both, guy and girls. Usually Russian add pronoun MY to those tender names:
Мой зайчик my little rabbit Мой зайчик
Моя рыбка my little fish Моя рыбка
Let’s imagine the conversation, where we can use it.
-Ты сейчас занят, можем поговорить сейчас?-Are you busy now, can we talk now?
-Да, конечно, моя рыбка. -Yes, of course, my little fish.
Let us repeat now all those words
котик
котенок
киса
кисюша
зайчик
рыбка
for example I say котенок, зайчик and рыбка to my friends or children.