Dimunitives as Terms of Endearment
Something that I noticed right away after getting here is that terms of endearment are not limited to family members. Made especially clear by my Latin American Civilization professor last module and also volunteers in the elementary school, you can call anyone "mi amor" ("my love") and get away without any weird looks. One thing that is unique (to me) about Spanish is that you can add dimunitives (suffixes that imply that the object in question is small) to the end of almost any word or name to make it into a new term. The list is almost endless, and definitely one of the most creative things I've ever noticed. Here are some examples:
chica (girl) --------------------------> chiquita ---------> Mamá Tica ususally calls us by this
gordo (fat) --------------------------> gordito ----------> also "chubby," Mamá Tica calls Mati and Jorge this sometimes
flaco (skinny) ----------------------> flaquito ----------> Mamá Tica calls Andrés this; he is indeed very thin.
gato (cat) ---------------------------> gatito ------------> "kitty"
perro (dog) -------------------------> perrito -----------> "puppy"
rana (frog) --------------------------> ranita ------------> This is one of Mati's toys. We refer to is as a ranita.
corazón (heart) --------------------> corazoncito ----> Mamá Tica will call Mati this as well.
ensalada (salad) ------------------> ensaladita -----> She always offers us some ensaladita with lunch or dinner
frijoles (beans) --------------------> frijolitos ---------> If you knew how much we actually ate beans, you'd understand how they have their own term of endearment.