Looking for a term of endearment
A story that I am writing features a native of Madrid, and a woman from London. I want to keep their relationship a little murky, so I need a term of endearment that could apply to a very good female friend, as well as to a lover.
11 Answers
ray said:
Carina/carino. To have an affection for. Sorry I have not put the accent above the letter n. Suete Robert. Ray.
It is not an accent, but a tilde, and it is not the letter N with a line on top, but a letter on its own, with a different sound, and used for different words. If you wrote "I vant" instead of "I want", would you say that you forgot to write the second V in W? Would you say that an R is a P with an extra leg?
Pena is sorrow; peña is a crag. It is not just a slight change in the sound, but a different word written with a different letter.
I guess the question wasn't that important, since Roberts appears to have left the building. Ah well...
Do you have a specific term of endearment in English that you would like to be translated over to Spanish? That might be a little bit easier to find the equivalent. I think that it is always best to not change the writing and descriptive style of an author.
Quentin said:
Why is the person from Madrid described as a native, but the woman from London is not described as a native of London? For a writer your simple sentence raises a lot of questions. I don't think that you will have any problems keeping their relationship "a little murky". Some more context would help. What English term would you use and perhaps a Spanish equivalent could be provided. Other than that we're just guessing . Pet names between old friends and lovers usually carry a significance only shared by them. Almost any term can be used endearingly. An elderly woman lovingly refering to her husband as "the old fool" can be a term of endearment.
And I thought my wife was insulting me these last few years.
Birdland said:
"Cariño is both masculine and femenine"
How remarkably true
However, the question remains, viz, is the "native of madrid" male or female?
entiendes?
Y la mujer de londres, ¿nació una mujer'
Quentin said:
An elderly woman lovingly refering to her husband as "the old fool" can be a term of endearment.
I am going to call Eddy's attention to this, he might have something to say. lol
Quentin said:
Why is the person from Madrid described as a native, but the woman from London is not described as a native of London?
Good call!
"Cariño is both masculine and femenine"
How remarkably true 
However, the question remains, viz, is the "native of madrid" male or female?
entiendes'
Why is the person from Madrid described as a native, but the woman from London is not described as a native of London? For a writer your simple sentence raises a lot of questions. I don't think that you will have any problems keeping their relationship "a little murky".
Some more context would help. What English term would you use and perhaps a Spanish equivalent could be provided. Other than that we're just guessing . Pet names between old friends and lovers usually carry a significance only shared by them. Almost any term can be used endearingly. An elderly woman lovingly refering to her husband as "the old fool" can be a term of endearment.
Cariño is both masculine and femenine
" a native of Madrid," Is the "a native of Madrid" male or female? That alters the context querida/o
