bearie

English

Etymology

From bear +‎ -ie.

Noun

bearie (plural bearies)

1. (childish) Diminutive of bear.
   • 1888 May 1, “The Other Side of the Story”, in Our Best Words, volume IX, number 9, Shelbyville, Ill., page 26:

     “But, little bearies, never let / Your angry passions rise; / Your little paws were never made / To tear each other’s eyes.” When the little bears could recite this perfectly, they went to sleep with their paws around each other’s necks, resolving that they would never, never quarrel, for fear that they might sometime get to be as bad as boys and girls; and their mamma could but feel grateful that they were so docile.

   • 1906 November 10, “Letters to Unsuccessful Men: Being Certain Letters Selected from the Private Correspondence of the Spurlock Family”, in The Saturday Evening Post, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, page 4:

     Of course, there’s nothing criminal about keeping a bear in your bathroom, but it’s a bit unusual, and I suppose I’m unduly sensitive about appearing odd. Once inside I took a handful of chocolates, and, opening the bathroom door a crack, began to call softly, “Bearie, bearie, nice little bearie.”

   • 1907 October 18, “Skunked”, in St. Louis Post-Dispatch‎^[1], volume 60, number 58, St. Louis, Mo.:

     All the bears / Had fled the thicket / Long before he / Bought his ticket— / All the big and / Little bearies / There have vanished / Like the fairies— / All skidoodled / Like a bubble / In a tempest, / Scenting trouble.

   • 1921 April 18, W[ilbur] C[oleman] Tuttle, “Between Pike’s Peak and a Pickle”, in Adventure, page 151:

     He staggers up to the bar and points at the bear. “Git down,” says, he, croaking-like. “Git down before I⸺” Mighty gets to his feet and staggers loose from the stirrups. “Don’t yuh strike my bear,” he whispers. “Tha’s my bear, y’betcha. Nice little bearie.”

   • 1928, Harriet Pyne Grove, The “Merry Lynn” Mine, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, page 37:

     “You will see plenty of them in the park,” said Catherine, “but don”t imagine that they are ‘nice, gentle, tame little bearies,’ and feed them out of your hand. […]”

   • 1990, Ralph Helfer, The Beauty of the Beasts: Tales of Hollywood’s Wild Animal Stars, Los Angeles, Calif.: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., →ISBN, page 26:

     I slowly opened the car door. Walt approached with the Coke. “Here, little bearie. Here you are. This is Wally, your friend!” The bear looked up, still mad as hell. Slowly he got up off me and started toward Walt.