Pet Names

This conversation happened maybe 20 odd years ago with between my little sister, Jacqui and a neighbour who was probably around my dad's age.

Neighbour uncle: Hi Jacqui!

Jacqui: Hi uncle!

Neighbour: So Jacqui, where's your puppy?

Jacqui looking very puzzled and then she said: My papi's at work. Where else would he be?

Neighbour looking at Jacqui thinking that she's gone out for her mind: Oh ok, bye!

Whenever I think of this conversation, I laugh. I laugh because we have pet names for people and for things and people outside that circle don't know or seem to get it or we forget to tell others what it really mean. To us when we were younger, we used to call our dad papi so Jacqui being the 4 or 5 year old then thought it strange that the neighbour uncle would ask where dad is.

Anyway, coming back to pet names. I call Babe as in Ba like Ba Ba Black Sheep and then Be as it to be or not to be. And sometimes he's called Darlie, honey or when I'm trying to get his attention Pee Kiat! Don't ask me where with that. I've no clue. And he simply calls me Min. Over time, Babe has gotten used to me calling people by pet names. Oh by the way, when I had a crush on Babe, his pet name was Greyee because he was grey all the time. It was a pet name between my cousin and me. I remember when we first started going out and while making a sandwich with pork floss, I told him to pass me Uncle Mark hair. He looked at me thinking I was mad and then I had to explain to him what's Uncle Mark hair.

So little Josias is sometimes known as Cha Cha. I don't even know how Cha Cha came about but I started calling him Cha Cha and now Babe calls him that too along with the helper. And little JC, sometimes I call her Little Strawberry because she reminds me of Strawberry Shortcake. And well, actually, I call the kids whatever comes to mind.

In our family, we have sort of pet names. My dad calls me Giant because, I'm the eldest and physically, the biggest of them all. Joanne is called Anna and Jacqui, is called Cheus as in Zaccheus. Well, don't ask the obvious unless you want her to kill you! Even with my cousins, we don't seem to shake off the pet names. Sometimes I forget Tristan is Tristan and want to introduce him as Ah Boy. And Lina is known as Aunty Lina to Josias.

I like pet names because they're like terms of endearment. With my cousins, it brings me back to those days that we used to play at the void deck and playground. Those carefree and fun days that seem so far away now. Looking back now, I did have a very fun childhood with my cousins. Sometimes it makes me wonder if little Cha Cha will have those same memories of hanging out with his cousins.