Strange meaning of the word "chair"

[gamboler]

I was watching an American movie and I think that one of the characters says the word "chair" with an odd meaning (not as a piece of furniture). In this context, I think it should mean "sister", or "girl" or "friend", but I haven't found any of these meanings in my dictionaries. I even looked up a slang dictionary.

Context: Susan and Paula are sisters. They are from Great Falls, Idaho, but now they're living in New York City

Can you guess what she means with "chair" here? This is the sentence:

"But, please, please, remember not to call me Paulie. And you, my little chair but no longer Susan Mars, you're Susan Marlowe, just two years younger than your sister Paula."

It also seems strange to me that she uses "but" instead of "are" in "but no longer". Does it make sense? Is it good grammar?

See attached the audio file.

 

[GoesStation]

It certainly sounds like "chair". I can only guess that Paulie sat on Susan in a previous scene for some reason.

 

[gamboler]

Thanks, GoesStation, but there isn't a previous scene, this is the first time we see Paula and Susan in the movie and both are standing in the living room. None of them are seated.

 

[SoothingDave]

Could it be a mangling of the French "cher/chere," for "dear"?

 

[GoesStation]

I think I hear a little glitch in the sound at the beginning of "chair". I wonder if the film was damaged and a few frames were cut out of it there.

 

[gamboler]

I wouldn't say that the film is damaged. It's a BluRay edition, very good image and very good sound. I don't think there is a lack of frames in this scene. At first I thought, like SoothingDave, that she could have used a French word (chère meaning dear), but being from Idaho and speaking good English with no accent, I doubted of that simple explanation. But, of course, I don't exclude the possibility.

 

[Barb_D]

And you, my little cherub, are ...

 

[SoothingDave]

Cherub makes sense.

 

[GoesStation]

And you, my little cherub, are ...

It's amazing how a little clue makes that second syllable jump out.

 

[gamboler]

Thanks a lot. It solves both questions: The words weren't "chair" and "but". She said "cherub" (a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face).
I agree.