There is a cartoon called The Wild Thornberries about a family that does nature shows. The father, Nigel, is British and has as a pet name for his youngest daughter, Eliza, “poppet”. Also in the movie the Pirates of the Caribbean some of the pirates call a young woman captive, “poppet”.
A poppet seems to be some sort of nautical valve.
Can any Brits (or anyone else) tell us what is its origin or how common is its use as a term of endearment for girls and young women?
I was born in Wales and thus violently object to being called “British”, but can confirm that it is indeed used as a term of endearment towards young (or not so young) women. How regularly it is used varies greatly depending on the company you keep.
I did some googling and found most references to “poppet” on the Pagan sites. It is referred to as a doll of sorts used for magic purposes, which can be made of various substances.
I assume that it was originally used as a term for a child’s doll, then for the child (akin to my little doll) and then became a general term of endearment.
So perhaps the “Pirates” reference was a bit of both…young girl, but also one who held the key to lifting a curse, hence was needed for magic purposes.
Thanks for that answer…I was hoping this thread would get some response. Thanks also JJuggle for asking that burning question.
On the whole, I’d rather be called a clown than British, but the two terms can usually be used pretty much interchangeably, can’t they? (please note sarcasm)
By the way, I notice a strict gender bias in the whole “clown” question thing. My female friends are, on the whole, impressed by the fact that I juggle and (will someday) unicycle. Male friends and colleagues push the whole clown thing until I knock them down with my speechlet on why all women MUST learn to juggle. It’s PG so I won’t post it here.
Probably cause chicks are, like, into all the feelings and emotion stuff and when they’re, like, not being really catty, can be, like, totally supportive and stuff. Or maybe they are being, like, stealth catty and think, like, you know, that chicks who juggle and unicycle are a total turn off to guys.
Guys are like, well, just brutish and competitive and are either just into, like, putting you down or think you’re, like, you know, wasting your time.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
PS I’m like totally intrigued by your “speechlet”. Could you, like, maybe, you know, post a G version or maybe, like, PM it to me? Or tell Dave, cause he’s, like, you know, a guy, and wont, like, hesitate to post it.
Poppet resembles (English) puppet. You can see the similarity, between the words and between their meanings. Poppet looks like it is a diminutive form of pop. The Dutch word pop translates both to puppet and to doll, other Dutch words can be added to pop to distinguish the two. In Dutch the diminutive form of pop is popje or poppetje, and those words (as well as pop per se) can be used as an affectionate term, although they are on the edge of being condescending.
I guess that all of these words, and also pup (young dog) share a common root, possibly predating the branching between Old English and Dutch.
Poppet it pretty common here in the Uk as a pet name, either for a child ( male or female) or for a lover.
My grandfather nicknamed his youngest daughter Pop , I as the only grandaughter also used to get called pop at times. Now I’m an adult, I find myself calling my husband poppet on occasion.
Untill you raised the question I hadn’t realised it was not a widly used term of endearment in the USA.
I’m sad to say that as the daughter of two librarians my child already employs excellent grammar. I am usually unsuccessful at my attempts to get her to stray from proper usage. She is the ultimate in 9 year old GC.
(please note sarcasm)
