"Daddy"

Posted by R. Berg on March 15, 2003

In Reply to: "Daddy" posted by ESC on March 15, 2003

: : : I don't know if this message qualifies for indecency although I hope not. It is a serious question and I hope someone will answer my question.

: : : When an american female says "Give it to me, daddy" while seducing a man who is not her father, what does it mean? Why "daddy"? Does it have any contextual meaning like a well known statement from a movie or a novel?

: : : Thanks
: : : Prakash.

: : The expression didn't originate in a movie or a novel, although it occurs in fictional dialogue. It's a traditional way of showing affection among some speakers (not most). I think the wife in "Come Back, Little Sheba" called her husband Daddy. It used to be fairly common for men in a certain social class (approximately lower-middle) in the US to call their wives Mother. I find these pet names offensive myself; they suggest that the person confuses legitimate relationships with incestuous ones.

: Hmmm. This one is going to take some study. American couples sometimes call each other "Mommy" and "Daddy" after they have children. It's a parent thing. It just happens. You can't tell your child, "Herman will be home soon." You say, "Daddy will be home soon." That's how it starts.

: Daddy and mama as sexual pet-names is a whole other thing apart from the parenthood arena. A man who supports a woman he isn't married to is a "sugar daddy." Then a sexually attractive woman is a "red-hot mama."

Calling one's spouse Daddy or Mommy when talking to a child makes perfect sense to me. Part of what gives me the creeps is addressing the spouse so as to imply that one feels like a child and thinks of the other person as a superior adult, a protector without whom one couldn't deal with reality.