Women are Babies

[V2_Schneider]

Apart from the 60's songs (and maybe earlier) when did women (and to a lesser extent, men) start being referred to as "Baby" in a romantic sense?

I am thinking Phil Spector's "Be my Baby" and Van Morrison's "Baby Please Don't Go" etc.

Thank you.

[Quizmonster]

'Baby' was used as a term of endearment referring to an adult woman as long ago as the 1830s...a bit before Phil and Van's time! The earliest recorded use of it in reverse order - ie by a woman referring to a man - dates to the 1920s.

[Quizmonster]

You're too kind, V2...I just have access to the finest reference sources.