On Cuteness Each language has a word for it, separately invented. Lorenz established babies need it simply to be fed. Puppies have it in abundance, small and wobbly, well-disposed. Toddlers who are cute themselves can recognise their simulacra. “Isn’t she a little cutie?” the world must sing in unison, encountering the mother stopping on a street. Teddy bears are said to have it but never quite succeed. Almost everyone who’ll read this once was cute but is no longer. So where does all that cuteness go? Mostly, it is handed down, sibling through to sibling. She who steals big sister’s…