Americans love to give nicknames to people, places and things to express friendship, adoration and affection. Giving imaginative nicknames to friends, family and even pets is a social behavior that has been around for centuries. Americans have been inventing names for everyone — from best friends to movie stars to the neighborhood cat that lives down the street — we nicknamed him “Cat Man.”

Nicknames are a way to connect with someone on a more intimate level. Many couples will affectionately call each other honey, sweetie or darling. Some famous dating couples’ names have been joined together to create an identifying nickname like “Bennifer,” for Ben Affleck

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