Valentine's Day is when the social sciences get to shine. It's when people revisit things about the science of kissing (kissing is good, unless it's bad) by anthropologists like Dr. Helen Fisher(1) and how if everyone wants to date someone more attractive, while their own attractiveness is dismissed as irrelevant, it's amazing anyone goes on a date.

Sometimes it is important to know what to avoid. While 28 percent don't want 'pet names' used at all, "daddy" edges out "boo boo" for the most disliked in the modern day. Even "bae" is no longer good.


Infographic and results provided by Casino Guru News.

It could be due to cliché status. With all of those terms, it could be that black people made something cool and then by the time it gets into use by old whites like me, it's cast aside.

"Daddy" always had limited utility, as seen in this clip from that valuable relationship primer, "Couples Retreat", with Shane and Trudy.



Whatever the reason, the survey of 4,000 adults (sample was 50 states plus Washington, D.C. in January 2025 using Prolific. Respondents reflected national demographic diversity.) said those have to go. It isn't just the term, the results said, it was how words were used. 'Baby voice' was disliked by 66 percent. The good news for grammar police like me is that 43 percent stated that grammatical or spelling errors in texts were a turn-off.

If you get one of those in a text from me, call the FBI, because I am letting you know I have been kidnapped.

You can read the full details here.

NOTE:

(1) And The Science of Kissing by Scienceblogs writer Dr. Sheril Kirshenbaum.