I read your entry about Carlos (Super Shuttle Driver). Some of those words sounded familiar. For example, my mother-in-law sometimes calls my wife “mami”. She used to call her husband “papi”. My wife calls her mother “Ma” and she used to call her father “Pa”. My wife used to call me “amorcito” when we started dating many years ago and my aunt still calls me “mi amor”. I still remember my phone conversation with my Aunt Chiquis (her name is Maria de los Angeles, but because she was the youngest her nickname became Chiuis, from Chiquita) this past Christmas eve” “Oye mi amor, por platícame de Fermi y Feynman”. (Fermi and Feynman are my dogs). The last sentence of the conversation was “Ay mi amor, que gusto me dió escucharte.”

But you are right. There is a difference between “Mami” or “Mamita” and “Mamacita”. You can hear “Adios mamacita” around construction sites in Mexico whenever a good looking woman walks. Most women ignore these “piropos”.

Are you aware of similar or equivalent expressions in non-Hispanic cultures (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Arab)?