A etymological analysis of why you can say “hots” in lieu of “heats”
A etymological analysis of why you can say “hots” in lieu of “heats” - Beginning with the omission of a letter from a headline to say “hots up,” this article goes on into some intriguing territory:
Rarely do we come across a word that can be applied, with lust aforethought, to either sex. A physically attractive male can be called a stud, and if cuddly to boot, a stud muffin. I can retrieve, from the far reaches of my brain’s hippocampus, a memory of once being called a dreamboat. An especially masculine type is called a Barney, and if tall, “a long drink of water.”
Female endearments range from baby doll to arm candy, peach to fox, quail to chick - I could go on but don’t need more infuriated e-mail from people who consider any lip-smacking characterization to be an insult to the intellect.
Few terms, however, are applicable to a sexually attractive person of either sex. Hottie is not spelled with a y because -ie, the lexicographer Grant Barrett informs me, “is a classic diminutive or hypocoristic ending used for terms of endearment.”
(via tmn)