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BUNNY

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:55 pm
by Dr. Goodword
• bunny •

Pronunciation: bê-nee

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A lump or swelling. 2. A term of endearment for rabbits and, sometimes, for girls and women.

Notes: The plural of this word is bunnies. There is a rare diminutive, bunnikin which, centuries ago, was used as the name of an early spring flower. The Easter Bunny is a holdover from an ancient Anglo-Saxon celebration of the goddess of spring and fertility, Eastre, from which we also derive Easter The impressive birthrate of bunnies made it the perfect symbol for the goddess of fertility. The egg is also an obvious symbol of rebirth and fertility. So Easter egg hunts are remnants of our pagan ancestry and are only recently related to the story of the Resurrection.

In Play: As with Christmas, the ancient Church combined its celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with local customs, giving us the rich mélange of symbols we enjoy today. Indo-European languages, other than English and German, use some form of pasca from Hebrew Pesach "Passover", for Easter, since the Last Supper was, in fact, a Passover seder: French Pâques, Spanish Pascua, Italian Pasqua, Swedish Påsk, Russian Paskha.

Word History: This good word for kids should mean "a small bun", and guess what—it does! The origin of this word is a Celtic bun "stump, bottom" which was extended to the tail of a bunny, then to their entire rear ends (at which point squirrel's bottoms were included) and, finally, to the entire rabbit. In the meantime, it was borrowed by French, who returned it as bugne "boil, swelling", which gave us "bun" in the culinary sense (and bunion). The use of "buns" to refer to human bottoms, amazingly enough, comes from this sense and not from the more obvious bunny bottoms.

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 6:18 pm
by Apoclima
I have heard "bunnikins" as a term of endearment! Frankly, other than kitty names, I can't stand alot of terms of endearment. I normally use "sweetheart" and that's about it!

Not things like "bunny-buns" or "sweetcakes."

Of course in retrospect, one may find that all that sweetness was just the sugar-coating of a bitter pill!

Not that I'm cynical or anything, bunny-buns!

Apo

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:08 pm
by KatyBr
So, I'm guessing you'd not like me to call you cuppy cakes or pumpi-umpi-umpkins?

Katy

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:28 pm
by Apoclima
You can call me anything you like, my sweet dumplin' sugar plummy puddy puddin' pie!

Just not late for Easter dinner!

My mom makes the best macaroni and cheese!

Apo

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 2:44 pm
by M. Henri Day
... Frankly, other than kitty names, I can't stand alot of terms of endearment. I normally use "sweetheart" and that's about it!
For some reason I myself can't quite fathom, I'm partial to the terms formerly used by English working-class women, like «love» and «ducky». I always got the impression that they really meant them....

Henri

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:40 pm
by Apoclima
I think "love" is OK, but "ducky" is completely out, along with the popular, "my pet." Yuck!

Apo

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:51 pm
by KatyBr
you're my honeybunch, sugerlump, pumpie-umpie umpkins, you're my sweetie pie
you're my cuppy cakes, pookeypie, darlin little lovey buns,
you're my cutie patootie
No matter what is said, it depends so much on who does the name calling. right, dumpling?

I happened to hear, on the tube, a man trying to impress a sweetie hopeful by calling her pork chop, I'm sure he meant lamp chop. He was mortified, she was offended and the intended liason on a silly sitcom never occured, oh thank God!

Katy

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:07 pm
by Apoclima
Wife: "Honey buns, does this dress make me look fat?"

Husband:"Not at all! You could never look fat, my little pork chop!"

Talk about a left handed compliment!

Apo

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:05 pm
by sardith
I once took Spanish from a teacher who was a native of a Central American country, whose particular name escapes me. She lectured with passion one day about the difference between spoken 'Terms of Endearment' in the English language, which commonly used words like: honey, sweetie, sugar, etc., (plus those you mentioned), all having their basis in cuisine, as opposed to the Spanish language, which employed phrases like: my life and my heart, etc., which have nothing to do with food! :shock:

Then, with a most bewildered look on her face, she asked, "What is this with you Americans, loving through the stomach?" :?

I had never thought of it that way. . .
Sardith :mrgreen:

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:53 pm
by Slava
Interesting, sardith. I'd never made the connection, either. Even though I've long known the adage, "the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

I've also long used this line, "you can call me anything you want, as long as it's not late for dinner."

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 4:54 pm
by Philip Hudson
Endearments pretty much turn me off.

Is a bunny a young rabbit, a young hare, or either?

How about cony as in Cony Island? There must have been rabbits there in earlier years.

Texas has two "rabbits". One is the cottontail and the other is the jack rabbit. Jack rabbits get pretty big but they don't compare to kangaroos. There is a statue of a jack rabbit in some West Texas town that is about the size of a pony.

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:25 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Whence cometh the word bun, referring to bread?

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 1:08 am
by Philip Hudson
I can't find a source for bun, as in bread. It doesn't come from the same source as bunny. Buns for derrière may come from bunny. After we have bun, as in bread, other items have been called buns because of the shape. Hence, she wore her hair in a bun. Chignon is a six-bit word for a hair bun. In Sandra Brown novels, yes I read Sandra Brown, almost every woman has her hair in a chignon. A bun in the oven is a recent slang expression for being "in the family way" or as us Rednecks say, "that a way."

Good Friday is coming up so some of us may be having hot cross bun.

Re: BUNNY

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 1:13 am
by Slava
Ah, hot cross buns. Isn't this the result of pouring boiling water down a rabbit hole? :D