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Leonardo DiCaprio Has a Very Romantic Nickname for Brad Pitt

Friend, “Lover.” Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Leonardo DiCaprio has a sweet little nickname for his BFF, Brad Pitt. Would you like to guess what it is?

No, it’s not Bud (how unimaginative).

Nope, not Button, either! Although that would be one compelling interpretation of Pitt’s latest biceps tattoo and also very cute. It is neither Cliff nor Booth, which would serve as a call-back to Pitt’s character in the film that brought them together, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and (therefore) always remind them of how they bonded. It’s something you absolutely would not expect, something most commonly associated with Taylor Swift’s music, something seemingly engineered in a lab to generate publicity and also, potentially, full-body wincing.

It’s “Lover.” Leonardo DiCaprio calls Brad Pitt “Lover.” That’s according to Pitt himself, who told PeopleTV on the SAG Awards red carpet that he finds the choice “a bit confusing,” but nonetheless “roll[s] with it.” How accommodating.

I personally do not find the existence of this nickname confusing: Pitt recently effused in his Golden Globes acceptance speech that he “would’ve shared the raft” with DiCaprio, something his Titanic lover Kate Winslet patently refused to do, so I think it’s safe to say things are getting pretty serious. And, Pitt is — according to many — upsettingly charming. “Lover” is less confusing than objectively embarrassing, as a noun, because the word carries with it the extremely potent energy of a quirky art teacher habitually oversharing her sexual history with her students. Considering their shared passion for pottery, perhaps this makes a certain sort of sense.

Leonardo DiCaprio Has a Very Romantic Nickname for Brad Pitt