Oh — and “kitchenette”. I think that “kitchenette” chiefly flourished as a word in the 1950s and 1960s. Small new-build flats, or large Victorian houses newly divided into flats, often had tiny kitchens. No doubt a “kitchenette” (which once sounded bright and modern) made a flat more saleable than a “poky little kitchen”… although the two mean much the same.

The kitchen, of course, has traditionally been taken as a women’s preserve, and I think kitchenettes were mostly intended for the use of women. There may be more than a trace of the female sense (as in “usherette”) with “kitchenette”.

These days, celebrity male chefs have claimed kitchens for the male sex. But the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver need elbow room. I don’t readily imagine them cooped up in a kitchenette.

On another tack, Jamie Oliver forms an interesting example of an “ie” diminutive used by a man. Perhaps this is especially interesting in view of your writing: “I remember once reading an article in Cosmo or one of its cognates arguing that the best way to spice up your lovelife is to adopt a ‘-ie’ nickname (so Kirstie, not Kirsty).”

You mention page three girls being called ‘Sam’ (and Ms Fox comes immediately to mind) but ‘Sam’ is a unisex diminutive, and could equally be Samantha or Samuel. Diminutives ending in “i”, “ie” or “y” are especially interesting, I think. Nicola, for example, can equally become Nicki, Nickie, Nicky or Niki (and maybe others with the same pronunciation). Nicolas, by contrast, is likely to become Nick. In other cases, “i” or “ie” is usually female, while “y” is usually male. Theresa, for example, is likely to become Terri or perhaps Terrie, while Terrance is apt to become Terry. While Bobby Shafto (in the old song) is evidently male “silver buckles on his knee”, Bobbi Shafto would certainly be female. In fact, Robert Shafto was a real man of the eighteenth century, but were he alive now he’d be much more likely to be Bob than Bobby. I can’t recall meeting a man styled as “Bobby”. These days, I think, Bobby has joined Nicky in its application by sex — so that Bobbi, Bobbie and Bobby would probably all be women. I suspect that the last couple of hundred years has seen a move move away from “y” diminutives for males. My impression is that Charlie was once specifically male (Charlie Chaplin, Charlie Chan) but is so no longer. Perhaps it is currently (like Sam) unisex. I suppose that, for men (Charles), Charlie is not really a diminutive at all — turning a one syllable name into two syllables. Charlie has the same number of syllables as Charlotte, but seems less of a mouthful. I’m not sure where this takes us, but I find myself fascinated by sex-specific and unisex diminutives, not least when they display shifting usage. Curious signifiers of femaleness and maleness which (I suspect) pass generally unnoticed.

Oh ho.

‘Male’ is apparently also a diminutive: from ‘masculus’, dim. of ‘mas’ (male), so they are paired in that sense. Given that, I suppose the diminutive here is less problematic.

My real interest in the diminutive thing goes back to ‘doll’, I guess, and the use of nicknames in particular. I remember once reading an article in Cosmo or one of its cognates arguing that the best way to spice up your lovelife is to adopt a ‘-ie’ nickname (so Kirstie, not Kirsty). Apparently this makes you sound fun lovin’, and I suppose it has a very similar root to what you’re talking about with the -ette: you don’t really want to think about where that ends up, do you?

And when are page three girls ever called anything other than ‘Sam’, ‘Nicki’, ‘Charlie’ etc? That’s not what their grandmothers call them.
Alas, I have never seen a ‘Kitchennette’ in the news in briefs. One day, maybe.

‘You earnest Sage!’ aloud they cried, your book you’ve read enough in! –
We wish to chop you into bits and mix you into Stuffin’!’ –

Enough in/Stuffin’ — brilliant!

1) Female e.g. usherette.

2) Small (= diminutive) e.g. kitchenette.

3) Imitation e.g. leatherette.

The last of those seems to have the most offensive possible implications regarding women.