angel

   A term which likens the person being addressed to a spiritual being who acts as a divine messenger, if one interprets it literally, that is. More usually it reflects the speaker’s reaction to the charm and innocence of the other person, who is often a young child or a love-partner. Romeo calls Juliet his ‘bright angel’, while Tom Jones, in Henry Fielding’s novel of that name, assails his Sophia with ‘my charming angel’, ‘my divine angel’, ‘my angel’. That was perhaps suitable for an eighteenth-century miss, but her twentieth-century counterpart would perhaps think such terms excessive.

   It is noticeable that in a 1988 BBC television series which features a father who hopelessly spoils his daughter, he addresses her as ‘my angel’ several times each episode. ‘Angel’ was given full name status by the thirteenth century and is to be found in many Christian countries in forms such as