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Terms of Endangerment (view source)

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It implies a non-existent closeness, or that the addressed somehow belongs to the addresser. Even if the one using these endearments doesn't mean the target harm, there's an undercurrent of wrongness in the way the addresser thinks and acts that makes them seem mentally unstable and dangerous. (Unless it's just an act designed to [[I Shall Taunt You|irritate]] or [[Trash Talk|distract]] the enemy and get him off his game.)
 
Usually, the nicer the pet name is, the worse the fate in store is. A form [[Casual Danger Dialog]], and a menacing variation on [[Flirting Under Fire]]. Generally a "milder" form of [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]], . Casual or informal forms of someone's name (like Tom for Thomas) don't count as this. Contrast with [[Hey, You]], where the use of inappropriate forms is meant as an insult. See also [[With Due Respect]], where using formal terms of respect implies the opposite.
 
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* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'': Count Olaf usually just refers to the Baudelaires as "orphans" but with Violet it's usually, "my dear", or just constantly mentioning how pretty she is. He even tried to marry her in the first book. Even if it was just for the money... creepy.
* Emperor Jagang in ''The [[Sword of Truth]]'' books calls female characters he usually intends to rape, torture and/or kill (which is to say, all of them) "darlin'".
* Discussed a few times in the [[Discworld]] novels, including ''[[Discworld/The Truth|The Truth]]'', as seen in the page quote.:
** ''[[The Truth]]'' provides this page's quote.
** Also, of course, played for laughs, as in ''[[Discworld/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'' when Om addresses a Tsortean solar deity with "Hey, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|sunshine]]?", just before hitting him over the head.
** In ''[[Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'', during an argument between Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, Granny objects when Nanny calls her "my good woman", retorting "I'm not anyone's 'good woman'!"
* [[Ax Crazy|Bellatrix]] of ''[[Harry Potter]]'', anyone? The cruelestcruellest example either being in ''Order of the Phoenix'' or ''Deathly Hallows''.{{verify|reason=Which one?}}
** In a decidedly less creepy, more mischievous variation, the Weasley twins. Either they're trying to rile Ron up, they're launching a sales pitch, or a prank is on its way.
** Also on the good guys' side, [[Big Good|Dumbledore]] consistently refers to [[Big Bad|Voldemort]] as "[[First-Name Basis|Tom]]", which pisses Voldy off something fierce.
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