DON’T Say MI AMOR, say THESE 6 Alternatives Instead!

1
¡Hola, mi amor!
(Hello, baby!)

2
¿Cómo estás, mi amor?
(How are you, my love?)

1
Bien mi amor. ¿Y tú?
(Good my love. And you?)

2
Yo también, mi amor.
(Me too, my love.)

Maybe it’s time to add variety to your pet name game in Spanish. I’m Paulisima from Spring Spanish, and in this video you’re learning options to “mi amor” to sound even smoother and sweeter when talking to your significant other. ¿Estás listo? ¡Empecemos! (Are you ready? Let’s begin!)

1. Mi Vida (My Life)

Mi vida (My life). My life! This one I’ve heard it more in couples who’ve been together for a long time. Pero eso no significa que solamente ellos usen esta expresión. (But that doesn’t mean that only they use this expression.)

1
Mi vida, ahorita que vengas para la casa, ¿podrías traer leche, por favor?
(My life, when you come home, would you bring milk, please?)

2
Sí, mi vida. ¿Vas a hacer hot cakes para cenar?
(Yes, my life. Are you going to make pancakes for dinner?)

1
Sí, mi amor, ¡tus favoritos!
(Yes, my love, your favorite!)

2
Mi vida, no hay leche normal, sólo hay deslactosada.\
(My life, there’s no regular milk, they only have lactose-free.)

1
¡Ay, mi vida, acuérdate de que esa es la que compro siempre!
(Oh, my life, remember that’s the one I always buy!)

Do stay until the end to find out why my personal favorite and one that is a bit controversial.

Get our free copy of a comprehensive list of essential Spanish chunks in the link in the description.

2. Variantes de bebé (Variants of baby)

Bebé, bebecito, bebecita e incluso “baby”. Just like in English, we use baby and many of its variants as a favorite pet name.

1
Bebecita, estoy yendo para tu casa. ¿Quieres que te lleve algo?
(Baby girl, I’m going to your place. Do you want me to bring you anything?)

2
No, no, bebé, gracias.
(No, no, baby, thank you.)

1
¿Segura, baby? Yo estoy llevando unas papitas para mi.
(Sure, baby? I’m getting some chips for myself.)

2
Bueno, mejor sí bebé, tráeme unos Takis fuego.
(Well, ok baby, bring me some “Takis fuego”.)

Como pudiste escuchar, también usamos la palabra en inglés: baby. (As you may have heard, we also use the English word: baby.) It’s almost as common as bebé. A modern twist to the “bebé” is best expressed by the one and only Bad Bunny:

Tu no eres bebecita… eres bebesota.

(You’re not “little baby”… you’re “big baby”.)

Bebé (Baby), have you subscribed to the channel? If you haven’t done it this is the right time to do it.

3. Mi Cielo (My Heaven)

Mi cielo (My heaven). In Spanish the word “cielo” means both heaven and sky! This one sounds a bit old fashioned and it’s uber romantic. In my opinion, people might think this is too sweet almost cheesy, but I love it.

1
Mi cielo, hace tiempo que no salimos, hay que hacer algo romántico.
(My heaven, it’s been a while since we haven’t gone out, let’s do something romantic.)

2
Claro que sí mi cielo, este viernes? Vamos a las luchas y a los tacos
(Of course, my heaven, this Friday? Let’s go to the “wrestling” and to the tacos.)

Mexicans can be very romantic, so “mi cielo” sounds perfect when you’re deeply in love. Being romantic will help you solve the problems that will come when dating a Mexican. Check out this video for more advice.

4. Formas informales y cuando hablas en tercera persona (Informal forms and when speaking in third person)  

The following terms are quite common in Mexico. Most times we would use these slang terms to jokingly talk about your SO to other people. You could obviously just call them:

• mi novio (my boyfriend)
• mi novia (my girlfriend)
• mi esposo (my husband)
• mi esposa (my wife)
• mi pareja (my partner) Quite gender neutral

But you know, when you’re talking to your friends and people you’re close to, you can be more playful.

Mi vieja (My old lady)

Mi vieja (My old lady). I’ve heard this one from men in all age brackets. It means both girlfriend and wife.

1
¿Vas a ir a la fiesta de Pancho?
(Are you going to Pancho’s party?)

2
No, está enojada conmigo mi vieja.
(No, my old lady is mad at me.)

Mi viejo (My old man)

No se ustedes… pero esta la he escuchado más de mujeres casadas para referirse a su esposo. (I don’t know about you… but I’ve heard this one more from married women to talk about their husbands.) I’d say younger women would only use this just for the fun it.

1
Bueno y entonces que le digo…
(Well then I tell him…)

2
¿Qué? ¿Qué le dijiste?
(What? What did you say to him?)

1
¡Ay, amiga! Es que acaba de llegar mi viejo a comer.
(Oh, friend! My old man just came home for lunch.)

2
¡Ay bueno! Pues, atiende a tu viejo, luego me marcas.
(Oh well! Well, take care of your old man, you can call me later.)

Mi güey (My dude)

Mi güey, this is kind of saying “my dude”. This is is super Mexican. Not cute nor romantic… but women do use it to talk about their boyfriends. I’ve actually said it. It sounds young and lazy, but aren’t we all?

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1
¿Con quién vas a ir al concierto?
(Who you are you going to the concert with?)

2
Con Paulina, mi sobrina, y su güey.
(With Paulina, my niece, and her dude.)

1
Ah, mira, tienes el Google Chromecast.)
(Oh, look, you have the Google Chromecast.)

2
Sí, me lo regaló mi güey.(Yes, my dude got it for me.)

It doesn’t sound good at all, but hey! It’s just the way people say it. Este tipo de palabras de cariño realmente no tienen porqué tener sentido. (These kind of pet names don’t really have to make sense.) That’s the thing with chunks, phrases or word combinations that native Spanish speakers use all the time, and that can do wonders to your fluency. Download a copy of a list of important Spanish chunks in the link in the description.

La dueña de mis quincenas (The owner of my paychecks)

“La dueña de mis quincenas” (The owner of my paychecks). Quincena is a group of fifteen. Most people in Mexico get paid biweekly, cada quincena (every two weeks). When we use the word quincena, we mean both the paycheck and the payday. This one is mostly used by men, but of course everyone can use it. Esta frase no suena sofisticada para nada, de hecho, es lo opuesto, pero no importa.  (This phrase doesn’t sound sophisticated at all, actually, it’s the opposite, but it’s ok.)

1  
Buenos días. ¿Cómo amaneció la dueña de mis quincenas?
(Good morning. How did the owner of my paychecks wake up?)

2
Muy bien, mi amor.
(Very well, my love.)

“El látigo” (The whip)

1
Vamos el viernes por unas cervecitas.
(Let’s go for some little beers on Friday.)

2
Déjame le pregunto primero al látigo, porque creo que nos invitaron a cenar mis suegros.
(Let me ask “the whip” first, because I think that my parents-in-law asked us for dinner.)

You get it? you know it’s like, you’re not free, you have to obey your SO, they got you by the neck.

“El tóxico” / “La tóxica” (The toxic one)

You know in recent years in the Western world we’ve been more aware of unhealthy relationship dynamics? Así que las palabras “tóxico” y ”tóxica” se volvieron parte del vocabulario. (So the words “the toxic one” became part of the vocabulary.) And now, people use it to jokingly talk about their partners. Just look at this.

5. Mi rey / Mi reina (My king / My queen)

Mi reina is quite common in Mexico. We’re loving and are not afraid to show it! I’d say that younger generations don’t use this, but it’s still very common. ¡Esta es mi favorita! (This is my favorite!)

1
¿Mi amor, vamos por un elote?
(My love, let’s go for a corn in cob?)

2
Lo que tu quieras, mi reina.
(Whatever you want, my queen.)

1
Gracias por ser tan lindo conmigo, mi rey.
(Thank you for being so nice to me, my king.)

2  
¿Cómo estás, mi reina? ¿Ya desayunaste? ¿Te mando algo?
(How are you my queen? Have you had breakfast already? Should I send you something?)

1
¡Ay, gracias, mi rey! Estoy bien, mi rey. Sí, mandame unos chilaquiles, porfa. Tengo hambre.
(Oh, thank you, my king! I’m ok, my king. Yes, send me some “chilaquiles”, please. I’m hungry.)

6. Mami / Papi (Mommy / Daddy)

Mami y papi. Mami for the ladies and papi for the guys, of course. It’s quite cheeky and some people find just too cringy. Y tal vez hasta de mal gusto. (And even maybe a bit tacky.) However, you will hear a lot it across Latin America. It is specially used in reggaeton music. I think calling a man papi is more popular than calling a woman mami. Let me know in the comments what you think about being called “papi” or mami”.

1  
¿Cómo te fue en tu junta, mi rey?
(How was your meeting, my king?)

2  
Terrible, bebé, no aceptaron ninguna de mis propuestas.
(Terribly, baby, they didn’t take any of my proposals.)

1
¡Ay, papi! Cuando llegues a la casa te doy un masajito.
(Oh, daddy! When you get home I’ll give you a little massage.)

1
Baby, te gusta cómo me veo?
(Baby, do you like the way I look?)

2
¡Ay mami! ¡Te ves hermosa!
(Oh mommy! You look beautiful!)

Wow! Now I feel like going on date! How do you feel? Ready to date Latin? Learn how to flirt with us in the next lesson.