So cutsie couple nicknames are actually GOOD for relationships

Have you ever heard a couple cooing and fawning over each other, calling one another vomit-inducing nicknames that put your lunchtime Starbucks at high risk of reappearing?

Or, are you in one of those couples, and rather than finding the nicknames heave-worthy, you find them cute AF thanks to the personal back story they symbolise?

Well, apparently now there is a scientific reason for the nicknames, and they are actually good for the relationship. 

According to the Scientific American, silly nicknames can help to create a sense of intimacy between partners.

This is backed up by a study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, which describes how the development of romantic nicknames helps to establish an intimate little world where the couple are in charge of the narrative, separate from the outside world. 

'I think it's a really human, natural behaviour to take language and shape it for our own purposes. I think that's how nicknames evolve,' said Carol Bruess, author of the study. 

'We name things, we give things symbols, and over time we tend to naturally manipulate those symbols toward a certain outcome.'

So salty singletons, look away, because cutsie nicknames are here to stay. 

Oh, and while we have you; don't forget to have your say in the inaugural SHEmazing Awards this May! It's time to vote, and you can do it right here!