Yes, it is a reference to a sexist nickname from a show from the 70s, which even back then was satirizing sexist attitudes.
I remember this scene in the original M*A*S*H movie where Houlihan and Burns were making out in the "privacy" of her tent, but someone had placed a microphone under her bunk and gotten a recording of her saying something like, "My lips are hot. Kiss my hot lips," or something like that. So she was dubbed Hotlips from there on out.
Still sexist, but there was a context besides it just being a generic nickname for a female officer. I don't think the scene was ever referenced in the TV series.
Okay, this is a derail. Honestly, I don't care what this guy calls his wife. His blogs about agents are offensive, sexist, and ill advised, but after thinking on it, I find more pity for the man than anything else. He's clearly pretty unhappy, and his chances of finding representation for this book, or a future one unless he changes his name and online profile, has gone from slim to none.
A textbook example of how not to react to the frustration and heartache of shopping a novel.
