Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 April 6

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April 6

Baby

Please, what is the etemology of Baby, as a term of endearment as heard in so many American songs. Dictionary.com seems to only have Baby defined as the term for an infant. Thanks. 86.149.140.101 (talk) 10:01, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

It goes back possibly a couple of centuries.[1] <-Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots-> 11:19, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

The etymology of "baby" is "babe" (the older word) plus the diminutive suffix "-y" (often spelled "-ie" when suffixed to other words). For the etymology of "babe" see Wiktionary. "Baby" as a non-literal endearment is obviously an extension of the "infant" meaning... AnonMoos (talk) 11:26, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

I'm a little surprised we don't have an article on infantilization of women, unless I'm missing it. A quick Google Scholar search turns up [https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=infantilization+of+women&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart lots of stuff, in a variety of different contexts. Calling women "babe" is part of this, although I'm sure many people use it without that background in their mind. The somehow even creepier use of "child" that became especially prominent in the 1970s was part of that same deal. Matt Deres (talk) 14:03, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

The Beatles song "Little Child", for example? Though it was written when "the boys" were only in their early 20s, so "child" is a semi-ambiguous term. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:58, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

She was just seventeen, you know what I mean. —Tamfang (talk) 01:49, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Don't forget that salacious song from The Sound of Music: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:56, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

The use of "baby" as an endearment in pop songs is by no means restricted to male singers singing about women. In fact, The Supremes had a #1 hit doing the reverse... AnonMoos (talk) 14:14, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

As well as their followup hit, "Baby Love". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:54, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

The shortening bae is also not only used for women; see Salt Bae.  --Lambiam 15:25, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

"Baby! Baby! ... Why does he say this 'baby'? The Führer has never said 'baby'." Deor (talk) 16:15, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

Not to forget Babe Ruth and Baby Ruth. Jmar67 (talk) 17:28, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

Also Babe Adams, Babe Herman and Babe Dahlgren.[2] Also Babe Hardy and Babe Howard. And the star piglet of Babe was male. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:49, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

And Babe Dye. And Babe Siebert. Adam Bishop (talk) 17:25, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

And the song "Superstar", best known as sung by Karen Carpenter, with its line "Don't you remember you told me you love me, baby?" and with subsequent repetitions of "baby". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:53, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

One of the earliest uses of "baby" in a pop song was "Come and Kiss Your Little Baby" (here), written by Albert Von Tilzer and Lew Brown in 1912. Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:18, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

See also the affectionate use of the word 'daddy,' which was popular once and has become more common again in recent years. Temerarius (talk) 23:04, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

"My Heart Belongs to Daddy", for one. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:03, 8 April 2020 (UTC)