Not a request but is it ok to ask for some help from Italian fans? What are common sweetheart names (equivalent to darling, dear)?
no problem, ask all the help you want about this! i’m happy to help
i will be honest, there isn’t a true set of endearing terms we use in italy to refer to strangers. i know a lot of fanfictions use terms like “caro/a” (which does mean dear), but the last time i was called cara was by someone in my uni writing me an e-mail.
it’s more common for older people who are familiar with you or between lovers for sure. like my teachers in middle school would call us stellina mia (my little star), caro/a; not very often, it’s just a way to build the sentence? it’s difficult to explain
by my family (which is from naples actually, so maybe it can help with jojo), i’ve been called things like nenné (which is a way to say girl in neapolitan dialect, it’s not really sweetheart-ish but it’s used), tesoro (treasure), the diminutive form of my name.
for lovers, there are a lot of endearing names, i think some are regional. in naples, i’ve heard a lot of amo’ (which is a contracted form for amore, meaning love). other terms that can be used are things like tesoro or tesoruccio (little treasure), piccolo/a (probably would be the corrispettive of baby/babe? literally it means small/little), amore (love), a lot of animal names like orsacchiotto/a (little bear), coniglietto/a (little bunny) o passerotto/a (little sparrow). but the things different from amo’/amore are a bit rare, let’s say in special occasions or when you’re bargaining lol
