I can just imagine. My wife's pet-name is "turtle". I gave her that name when she was first learning to snow-ski. We no longer ski (broken leg, skiing, for her and back surgery for me), but the name endures. If she fell down, bundled up in the shape of a snowman, the term: "I have fallen down and can't get up" immediately comes to mind. I would never say that in front of others though.