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I would like to share an interesting discussion I had very recently with a regular poster on this board regarding the use of the word "papi"
This word has become for me some kind of demarcation line in how a Colombiana feels about me ( I will limit this conversation to Colombianas for the time being)
I have come to expect and insist that the girl/woman that I am involved with, refer to me as "papi" somewhere along the line. Now unless the woman is a ho/escort/pro/scammer etc whe will not utter this word lightly. She may affectionately refer to you as " precioso, cielo, amor, rey, vida, carino" but "papi" takes it to a different level. I have had Colombianas tell me that they dated their ex novias for 2 years and never called them papi. An independent, strong-willed Colombiana will never refer to you as "papi", but I am not looking for, nor want this kind of woman. "Papi" which translates as "daddy" is a word which when used in a relationship is showing and telling her man that she is "his" no doubt about that. My friend who is married to a Colombiana told me that his wife will call him anything but that. They have problems in their marriage and I think the lack of willingness to call him "papi" is a telling sign. He told me that she will call him a name which she claims has the same meaning as "papi" but never "papi" itself. If it means the same then call me "papi" honey. Sorry no can do.
Living here in south Florida, I am fortunate to come across and have several Colombiana lady friends that I like to talk with and pick their brains and get their take on different situations. One of them is a teller I always use in my local bank, her name is Maria and she is from Bogota. The othe girl is the receptionist at my doctors office, Sandra, and she is fron Cali. I speak with them often about a lot of different issues. They both second the thoughts I had on the use of this word. Basically saying that when a Colombiana calls you "papi" she is giving up any independence she may have had in her relationship with you and that you are basically her man, her " master"in all sense of the word, but not in a bad sense as many here unfamiliar with the latin traditions may come to think. Some men may not want a relationship like this. But Colombianas like a confident, strong minded man, who makes the decisions in a relationship and those that do seldom have problems in their relationship. A Colombiana respects this in a man, "papi"
My upcoming trip I will being spending several weeks in Colombia and meeting 4 women. I earned my last "papi" just a few days ago with one of the four and I had to really work hard for that. I speak very good spanish and I am very good on the phone and in chatting etc and I lay it out there pretty good for them to undertand me and where I am coming from. If I come across a latina that is too hard headed or that I sense problems, I just take a pass. "Papi" has never failed me in so far as being a good barometer as to where I stand with the woman and also in being a good window into her soul. The Zen Buddhists say that we attract into our lives exactly what we put out for the world to see. Man, how true is that. The women I am meeting are all 100% latinas, very feminine and looking for their "papi" All what I would call excellent marriage material.
Finally the reason I limited this discussion to Colombianas is because in different countries in South Americas the standards vary. For instance I have dated many Peruvians and spent the better part of a month there last year. The Peruvians are a lot more conversative in their matter of speech and dating and even casual use of words like cielo, vida, amor are not lightly spoken as where with a Colombiana they are usually a given in the conversation if you have any kind of chemistry going. My Peruvian novia from Lima only called me "papito" in bed and that was when the sweat was really starting to pour.
Would be interested in hearing from gringos married to Colombianas what their take is in this discussion.

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

My Calena novia called me papi during our romantic phase, and asked me to call her "Mommi", but a few months later dumped me for singing school and her ex boyfriend in peruvian prison.

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

I asked my wife about this post, who BTW is from a middle class Colombian family... She said that it is considered very low class to call your novio / esposo "papi"...

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

My daughter calls me papai [daddy] and my wife calls me papi [honey].  In CR, they use the expresion Mi Amor [my love] but it is a casaul expression which doesn't indicate love.  My wife also uses Mi Vida which is even more special.

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

I can picture how strange it would seem to bystanders if they heard my wife calling me the equivalent of "Daddy" in public.  

Or, if I called her "Mommy".

Better buy her a pacifier before she starts sucking on her thumb.

... in response to Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by doombug on Jan 9, 2005

Papi means honey when your novia uses the term.  Remember the move chasing Papi.  Sophia Vergura and her two co-stars weren't chasing daddy.

... in response to Re: Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by kented on Jan 9, 2005

[This message has been edited by doombug]

Well, in that movie, "papi chulo" was the term of endearment, not "papi." (Despite the abbreviated form in the title)

In the movie synopsis, they define "papi chulo" as:

"'Papi Chulo' is a term of endearment in Latin culture meaning 'my beautiful man,' describes Mendoza. 'You refer to your boyfriend or husband as Papi Chulo – Chulo meaning beautiful and Papi being just a term of endearment for your man.'"

But, the original post was about the usage of the word "papi" by itself, not "papi chulo."

I found a variety of forums where Latinos discussed its meaning, and they all defined "papi" as daddy.  

"...Papi means father, the nickname [of a particular baseball player] is Big Daddy, but they use Papi because he is so popular in the Dominican."

"Oh yeah papi chulo means sweet daddy. Papi means daddy and chulo means sweet. Yeah Spanish is like that sometimes..."

"'No te divertas con papi?' means
'Don't make fun of Daddy.'"

"'Papi' means Daddy in Spanish."

"You Can Get The Meaning Of Papi From Wordrefernce [sic] Dictionary.
Papi Means Dad Or Pop.
So
Hola Papi Means
Halo Pop/dad."

"This meaning is more usual in South America , In Spain It means 'Daddy.'"

"That is right. In Spain it would be extremely weird to call 'papi' to your boyfriend or lover, because 'papi' is your dad. Anyway, in South America it is quite common, they use "papi" in the same context we use "cariño" or "cielo" (dear, darling, etc.)"

"Yes,PAPI..means= Daddy"

"papi is short for papa, which means dad. so it's like saying 'daddy.'
chulo means 'cute.'"

Maybe that's why so many young girls wear those pacifiers around their necks in the rave clubs.  They're "Chasing Papi."

It's probably safe to say that a woman calling you "papi" in a private setting is a lot less comical than in her doing so in public.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by doombug on Jan 9, 2005

[This message has been edited by soltero]

Chulo is actually translated into "pimp" in SA (or East LA). In Spain, the word means "cool" or "bad ass" or "bad guy". Papi Chulo can be cleaned up to mean "sweet daddy", but not in the way that the movie synopsis is presenting it. It still is a pimp or thug reference and only looked at as a term of endearment in the ghetto.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Earning My "Papi&qu..., posted by soltero on Jan 9, 2005

papi means honey according to my wife and she would know.  I have been ckalled that a few time in Costa Rica.  She also says "papi soto" refers to someone extremely good looking.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Earning My "Pap..., posted by kented on Jan 11, 2005

Papi can mean a lot of things, and none of them I know are necessarily bad, but I was giving the definition of "Chulo"...

... in response to Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by doombug on Jan 9, 2005

Personaly i like being called Papi and could care less if UPTIGHT AMERICANS look at me strange if called that.
On the otherhand, it is not a requirement for me to be called that by the woman i am with.
MI AMOR
CIELO
BOBBY
PAPICITO
MI VIDA

Any one of those will do

I have found that the women from the bigger cities do not use the word PAPI as much as women from the smaller towns.
I think that the more traditional the women, the more you will hear the term PAPI over other terms.

This is my experiance based on dating woman from both cities and smaller towns

KB

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

Nunca a papi here. Neither my wife nor her Colombian friends have ever mentioned the term. I get a lot of "me amor" from her. Before that it was a constant "baby". This was becoming tiresome i thought, now i finally got her using my first name. Uuummm...i think that's best. I don't get the need for this title/stature you are seeking. I mean, if you're gonna follow Zen philosophy you should be focusing more on treating her like a queen-right?

... in response to Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by Johnboy on Jan 8, 2005

Perhaps he's been waxing a little too philosophical on samething that is truly not relevant to anyone else. That's pretty obvious judging from the responses of not ony the posters on this board but the ACTUAL LADIES that we have dated here on this board.

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

Being Latino & having dated numerous Latina ladies most would think of this as a sick thing bordering on an incestual fetish on your part. Not sure where you arrived at your conclusions etc regarding how important that term is TO YOU but to the ladies it would seem like a lot of mierda. Seems like other guys here MARRIED to latina ladies seems to say their ladies feel the same way. Just my dos centavos.

... in response to Sounds like a lot of nonsense to me man...., posted by Frank O on Jan 8, 2005

Frank, please don't take this the wrong way but a half Mexican's opinion from McAllen Texas, (maybe the lowest class city in the USA) means as much to me as a wart on a duck's ass.
Better yet ask any Colombian female what she thinks about Mexicans. Enough said!
Just my two cents  :-))

... in response to Re: Sounds like a lot of nonsense to me ..., posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

Judging someone based on their ethnicity and city of residence might not surprise me coming from an ignorant teenager. However, coming from a 41 year-old adult is indicative of your lack of cognitive sophistication. As a Mexican-American, I have yet to experience any sign of animosity towards Mexicans in Colombia.

... in response to Re: Sounds like a lot of nonsense to me ..., posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

McAllen is not a bad place at all.  It is a fairly small town, and I would not want to live there b/c of that.  However, it is nice, clean, quiet, and really an equivalent of a nicer suburb of Houston or Dallas.  They have a very pretty hotel there and a lot of malls where wealthy Mexicans shop, sorta like outlets I guess.  Have you even been there?  If you want low class in Texas, that's Port Arthur, south of Beaumont.  Or North Florida, or Daytona Beach, etc.

I do know several Colombians, and several are actually close friends.  I have never probed them on the subject of their feelings towards Mexicans, but I never heard them say anything bad about them.  Besides, it is a rather low class thing to do to speak bad of a whole country (at least, unless yours is at war with it or something).

... in response to Re: Sounds like a lot of nonsense to me ..., posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

My wife (a Peruana) dated a Mexican and a Colombiano in the past.  She seemed to hold no grudge against either.  The Mexican wasn't in any rush to commit, and the Colombian was already married.

Rivalries abound.  My wife says that Peruanos and Chilenos are very bitter towards each other.  But there is a historic basis for it:  Chile fought two land-grab wars with both Peru and Bolivia in the 1800's.  It's not necessarily an ethnic hatred, though I've noticed some of their feuds reduce to such juvenile levels.

If a woman from Colombia tells you that she hates Mexicans, what's to say that--behind your back--she isn't telling a Mexican tourist that she hates gringos?

... in response to Re: Re: Sounds like a lot of nonsense to..., posted by doombug on Jan 9, 2005

I think the problem lies more so with "Papi" here & not with his chick. He does appear to have some severe problems HIS racism aside. I'd be my left nut he's never been to McAllen. Not that it's all that but there is a reason why we continue to awards for our city. Oh well, it's don't make a wart on a ducks arse. ;-)

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

Being Latina & having dated numerous Latina ladies most would think of this as a sick thing bordering on an incestual fetish on your part. Not sure where you arrived at your conclusions etc regarding how important that term is TO YOU but to the ladies it would seem like a lot of mierda. Seems like other guys here MARRIED to latina ladies seems to say their ladies feel the same way. Just my dos centavos.

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

I have been enjoying my "Don" status here but you don't want to hear it from a girlfriend.
To one of my girl friends I am her "Mi Osito",little bear.
ME Amor seemsto be the most commonly uttered phrase in a passionate situation.I even get in to it myself,but probably need to augment it with some otherwords of amor in a little more convincing spanish.Amazing what the verbal will get you in response,not to be ignored.Missed by alot of gringos including this one alot in the past.

Pete

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

In private..........my novia and soon to be wife refers to me as "Daddy"

She used to call me "Papi".......but calls her own Father that.......when she learned the word "Daddy" in English she switched....

Whose your Daddy?????????

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... in response to Re: Earning My "Papi"...I unde..., posted by Chris F on Jan 8, 2005

Exactly Chris. You got it going on brother!  Congrats on all. You have a sweet, pretty future wife that loves her "papi"
You have two kinds of novias/esposas as you have found out, those that call you papi and those that make excuses why they can't call you that.
Glad you see you in with the right group. Get ready to be spoiled like all get out!!!!!
ENJOY the ride ( yes pun intended) ja ja ja

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

My Colombian wife of fifteen years, who by the way is from an upper-class family, said no self-respecting Colombiana would use this term.  My wife favors mi vida or mi corazón or, if times are bad, perro gringo.

... in response to Re: Earning My "Papi", posted by Gator on Jan 8, 2005

Hey Gator,

 To help the rest of us who don't know what any of that translates to;please clue us in.  Also, since we are talking about meanings and connotations of words and phrases; do you know any others that would be appropriate for this thread? I just think that it is very fascinating to learn all of these types of things, so that when the time comes, I will be much better informed and can make a positive impression on the lady in my life. Certainly, I would want to be very receptive when she would be paying me a compliment or getting romantic!

                                 OkieMan

... in response to Earning My "Papi", posted by CartagenaPapito on Jan 8, 2005

it's low class to use it.......

... in response to Upper class women think......., posted by Heat on Jan 8, 2005

Interesting, my wife (Peruvian) said the same thing.

... in response to Re: Upper class women think......., posted by Red Clay on Jan 8, 2005

I know latin people

... in response to Your wife is a smart women...., posted by Heat on Jan 8, 2005

Based on this thread I would say you do, Heat.