Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling

Subject: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Bun
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:35 AM

When I was a kid, my mother used to call me bicycle face cos I wore specs.
At school I was always spuggie legs cos I was skinny
despite these handicaps I seem to have grown up ok and not scarred. Did you have any nicknames that you want share with us?
Bun

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: bill\sables
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:52 AM

One kid at school was called "Fruit Machine" 'cos he only had one arm. but most kids with glasses were called "Four Eyes." One lad was always mooching around slowly, he never seemed to run at all, and so he was called "Rocket" Kids can be cruel little buggers.
Bill

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Metchosin
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 07:07 AM

they sure can. I got ginger and "carrot top" (couldn't figure that one out because carrot tops were green) but mostly I stung from "wet the bed" that rhymed with red-head and the proverbial fatty fatty two by four.

Another poor soul that came to mind was a chap whose last name was Eversfield who had unfortunate teeth and a penchant for breaking his leg ( twice in one year) who ended up with the nickname Gummie Evercripple.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 07:14 AM

Gummie Evercripple?!?!?!

That's hillarious!!!!

ROTFLMFAO!!!!

I wish someone had given me such a distinctive nickname when I was a kid... As a red-head I got all the boring old crap.. except for one guy... my penchant for thousand yard stares convinced him to saddle me with the moniker "Meditation Man"... I'm sure I probably coulda jumped on the goof-ball New Age movement with that one, and earned a fortune giving old hippies crystal suspension enemas or something...

:-)

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 08:04 AM

When I was young my dad told me, "No teasing is 100% teasing." Consequently, I never could tease effectively because I was taken too seriously. Now I can only get by with saying something so totally ridiculous or untrue that folks know I'm not serious. I'm more comfortable around people that I know can "take it" so that I don't have to watch everything I say. I used to work with a group of men and was always surprised at the level and kind of teasing that went on. Going bald was something I had never given the slightest notice to, but was a very big topic of concern and teasing among the guys.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 08:21 AM

When I was a little boy, my ears were too big for my face. I could look through a key hole with both eyes... My grandfather, whom I detested, started calling me Mother Rabbit! Then when I hit puberty, I grew all at once and the name calling stopped. The kicker was, a few years ago, I was getting a massage, and the masuse (sic) told me that prominent ears were a sign of virility.. Revenge is a dish thats best served cold..

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Fibula Mattock
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 08:45 AM

er... I generally got "swot" which was definitely a term of abuse and not in any way affectionate. Little bastards.
At the age of 11 I got glasses, a brace and asthma all at the same time. And my hair is reddish. Didn't do a lot for my confidence, I can tell you. Fortunately the brace was later removed, the asthma is under control, and I've just got contact lenses. And I like the red hair. And I'd rather be someone who did well at school than be the pillocks who made my adolescent life hell for it.

It's weird the hang ups you thought you'd forgotten about when someone drags up an old nickname - the name might be silly now, but you're sometimes too aware of what it used to feel like. Which is why my sister will kick my head in if I ever call her Bubbles again.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 08:58 AM

..God damn them all..wish I was in grammar school now..

I'd love to do some ass kicking and name taking now!!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Fibula Mattock
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 09:02 AM

I used to be scorned for liking folk/trad music. Ha ha ha ha ha! (maniacal laugh) - if only they'd known there's a WORLD WIDE FOLK CONSPIRACY right here, right now! They will rue the day they mocked the bodhran and taunted the banjo. Come the revolution, they'll be begging for accordian lesson! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 09:07 AM

As a kid, not so much. They just beat me up. But in college somebody called me Marty Feldman Eyes... mine ARE blue, but I hadn't thought of them as buggy!

Subject: Just call me Allan
From: Allan C.
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 10:24 AM

My father always called me "Hot Shot". It made me feel very special. He never worked up a nickname for my brother. But he was the firstborn and already had some built-in advantages, I suppose.

Because my last name is Clark, it was only natural that in school I was given "Clark Kent" to deal with (even though I didn't wear glasses until a few years ago). No, they were clearly not referring to his Superman persona. I was something of a nerd and they let me know about it - (still am one in many ways). Often I was simply called by my last name. Oddly, it always sounded as though it was meant as an insult. "Hey, Clark!" I don't know why, but it always rubbed me the wrong way.

Years later a friend became determined to figure out a new nickname for me. Because my initials were the same as a brand of spark plugs, he started calling me, "AC" and would sometimes add in the "Sparkplug". "Sparky" was tried but didn't stick. He eventually grew tired of "AC" and shortened it to "Ace". I liked it. Quite a few people picked up on it. But nobody ever seems to call me that anymore.

I have always been Allan to most people. I have almost never introduced myself by my full name. "Hi, I'm Allan." is as far as I usually go with it. Even little kids know me as Allan - except a few whose parents raised them to call all male adults by Mr. ______ . I tolerate that; but as I usually tell folks, "Mr. Clark was my father. Please call me Allan."

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 10:51 AM

Going to primary school in the late 50's/early sixties with the surname 'Polakow' was not the easiest of things. Which is why I guess my parents decided to change it.

But it did me no harm at all, did it Josephine?

Mind you, my mate, Aloyicious Hugetool, got so fed up of the name calling he decided to change his name as well. He is now Alan Hugetool......

Napoleon Boneparte.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: sian, west wales
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 10:52 AM

I never had one as a kid. I moved to Wales when I was 28. Not a move to make if anyone DOESN'T wand a nickname. I came out OK - from Jane Thomas to Sian Toronto. Could be worse.

I know a Dennis Gwallt Nice (lit. Nice Hair) whose hair grows in a natural marcelle wave. A Billy Torch, who works for the electricity board. A Wyn Bombs, who I firstly treated with caution thinking it might harken back to the holiday cottage burning years but apparently it refers to an unfortunate tendency towards flatulence.

Until recently we had a lot of Davids / Dafydds in our pub so we had Dai Tractor, Dai Collier, Dai Scaffold and Dai Dentist. We also have an Al Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain) who's quite large and a Phil Ferret, who isn't.

I think, in Wales, you quite often grow into nicknames rather than out of them.

sian (toronto - or west wales)

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 11:09 AM

I have a son named David who worked on a surveying crew one summer with two other Davids. They were David, Dave and Davey.

One hot summer day they were on the front porch of a friend's house and rang the bell for a glass of water. The 10-year-old who answered the bell didn't realize that the intercom could be heard outside and called to her mother, "Mom, David ___ is on the front porch with two other strange looking guys!"

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: bill\sables
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 11:47 AM

During the sixties and seventies there was wrestling on TV in the UK. and wrestlers had nicknames including a "Native American", who, I think was born and bred in Bolton, called Billy Two Rivers. At Christmas this year My wife crashed our car into two trees and I ended up with cuts on my head and broken ribs. At the music session in the JUG they have given me the name "Billy Two Trees" with the intention of making me laugh which as they know hurts like hell when you have broken ribs.
Bill

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Allan C.
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 11:52 AM

Such cruelty, Bill! Off with you then, ya buggers!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: bill\sables
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 12:16 PM

I accidently gave a nickname to a man who worked in a TV production company with me, he had a glass eye. One day we were building a set and had mislaid a piece of scenery. It was easier to stand back to look among the rows of flattage which were standing in rows and I saw the bit we needed and called out "That's the one I'd get". Unfortunatly the glass eyed scene hand was just standing below the flat I had indicated and from that day on he was called "The one eyed git"
Bill

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 12:21 PM

Kendall,
When searching for a new Dalai Lama, one criterion is the size of a child's ears. Large ears are godlike...and very sexy. Your grandfather was a cruel man.
My nickname was Maryooch. Still hate it. My real name was MaryLou and I still hate that too. Refused to answer to it at the age of five. During my more awkward years, I was Goopie - don't DARE!!!!! You won't live to tell the tale.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Metchosin
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 12:35 PM

Clinton, I don't think Gummie thought it was funny, but then I think he was given the name by my friend, whose last name was Bates and he quite often went by the moniker of Master Bates and another friend was nicknamed Ben Gunn because of his dislike of cheese.

But the best, was not a nickname at all, but a real name, a girl who drove a huge Jeep truck or wagoneer to school in the sixties, Trulaine Chiefy. A robust blonde girl who could crush football players heads with one hand, no one made fun of her and she never went by her first name, just Chiefy.

Forgot about parental nicknames, my father called me Seagull or Garbage Can because of my habit of scrounging and eating the rest of the family's table scraps before they were scraped into the dogs' dishes.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Branwen23
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 01:29 PM

Growing up with a name like Branwen I got picked on a lot... Never in any grade, in any school, did a single teacher pronounce my name correctly when reading the roster on the first day of school.

To the other kids, I was known as, well, let see how many I can remember... Brawny, Brownie, Brownwin, Bran Muffin, Bratwurst, Broomstick... the list goes on... Made me secretly plot my revenge on my mom for naming me that... But I'm a lot more comfortable with it now... not that I don't have similar problems with adults... ;)

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: annamill
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 01:43 PM

I think I've mentioned this before but it just won't leave me alone! This is dead serious. I had a friend who used to work for Lucent Tech and he had a supervisor named "Eberhardt Wonderlich". I kid you not. I still fall down laughing. I always told my friend that if he ever introduced me to this man, I would have to say "Is that true??"

My maiden name was Luna. That caused a few problems in school. Loony Tunes, Lunatic, looney, etc.

Funny, today, I find it kind of a romantic name. Anna Marie Luna. Kinda nice now.

Love, Loony Tunes

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 02:18 PM

Anna, pretty much the same thing happened to me! I was in a retail position one time and two guys came in to pick up a product. One told me that the other one just became a father...said the baby was named Titus Elijah. I giggled and said, "You're not serious...sure." Both then shook their heads yes. Moral of story - NEVER remark about a baby's name!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Morticia
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 02:23 PM

I was always called titch, or short-stuff or tiny or elf...until I moved up to secondary school where, not only did I suddenly grow ( well, a bit anyway) but I was in class with a chap with the awe-inspiring name of Nicholas Alcock.....he took all the flak for everybody after that.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 02:25 PM

When I worked in a teacher training establishment we had a student called Rosemary Virgin. Just before she was due to go out on her first teaching practice she announced she had changed it to Rosemary Vernon.
RtS

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:01 PM

First, I need to give some background:

My last name is Oesterreich, which my family pronounced OH-stritch.

So I was OY-strich a good deal. That didn't bother me, but FAT-stritch did!

My maternal grandfather called me Abraham, for no perceptible reason, when he didn't refer to me as City-of-David.

I hungered to be called Doc, as I recall, but could never get it going. But when working at a local canning factory in the summers during college, a number of the women in my department referred to me as "Perfesser".

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:06 PM

My dad always called me "Katty" which I still like.

The kids in school were horrible. Because of my red hair and very prominent freckles (they've both faded, darn it!), whenever I put my hair up in a ponytail they called me Woody Woodpecker.

The worst was an older boy who teased me about having a tommy gun in my violin case, everyday and called me "scab." To this day, I have no clue why he latched onto such an ugly nickname, unless he saw my knees once in awhile. As we girls couldn't wear pants in grade school except on Fridays my knees were always getting skinned up!

Allan, my dad's adult nickname is "Sparky" from him being a welder.

kat

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Tinker
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:25 PM

I grew up with the last name Duquette, which for my brothers became Duke, but I recall Duck-it. This with no tranisional people followed to a sweet catholic women's college where it on occasion transformed to a less polite rhyme. But it was a different time and not said with malice even in memory it still is amusing.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Margo
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:28 PM

MARGOLO, after the bird in Stuart Little.
ROSEY, for my maiden name Rosenstein

Maggie babes in high school... who knows why?

Margo

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Metchosin
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:31 PM

Dennis Mycock took all the flack at elementary school when I was young Morticia, although he did manage to turn it around a bit.

Branwen I can sympathise, my youngest's name is Ceilidh, aside from the difficulty in pronounciation by all (Seelid was the most common), she was also upset because the only other Ceilidh she met was a collie. She likes it now as an adult and due to a celtic revival, at least more people now know how to pronounce it.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Bert
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:31 PM

And now it's Banjo Boobs, Eh Margo.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Dunc
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:47 PM

I was involved in a team of about 16 men doing some work which involved high speed inflatable boats. Two of us were called Duncan. The other Duncan was great at repairing broken down engines whilst I managed to puncture the collar of one boat with my diving knife and shred the gears in the engine of another. Hence the nicknames to differenciate between the two of us - I was DUNCAN F**K IT and he was DUNCAN FIX IT.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: mousethief
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 04:00 PM

In high school I was called "beanpole" because I was so tall and skinny. Now I'm tall and fat and don't get called anything.

Alex

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 04:20 PM

There is a dentist in upstate Maine whose name is Peter Swallow.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 05:47 PM

Bulldog....I look like one; but my bark is worse than my bite. Honest, really! LOL Yours, Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: CarolC
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:04 PM

Well, if we're talking about unkind names, there's...

Carol Cumberbund
Carol Cut-the-cheese
Carol Cut-the-fart
Carol Cunt-ingham (have a field day with that one, boys)

When I was very little, the adults called me Messy Bessy

But the most interesting, I think, is that when I was young, all of the adults used to always tell me I was going to grow up to be a Philadelphia Lawyer. Anyone know what they meant by that?

Carol

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: mousethief
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:06 PM

actually it's cummerbund

Alex the pedant

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: John Routledge
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:11 PM

Two school friends were brothers David Alan and Jeffrey Clarke. They roughly burned their initials DAJC in their joint cricket bat and promptly became known as Big Dazz and Little Dazz. DAZ was a then fashionable washing powder. Cheers GBroon

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: CarolC
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:15 PM

You may be right, Alex, I may have mis-heard them. On the other hand, how much class does it take to call a kid either cumberbund, or cummerbund?

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Matt_R
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 06:34 PM

Well, as a toddler, I used to have this little toy Volkswagon Beetle that I used to push all around the house, so my parent's nicknamed me "Bug."

Later, as I got older, my youngest sister has this thing with calling me "Mattyoo".

Thank goodness I was homeschooled, and subsequently avoided any name calling!!!

When I first started playing at my teacher's monthly Barn Dances, my Dad called me "The Legend" after the crowd response...lololol!!!

Oh course then there is the well-known story of 1994, due to a certain episode of "Home Improvement" and "Are You Afraid of The Dark?" I was given the name "Mbo".

I've also been known to my family as:

Boy
Scooch (short for Scooch-a-men...don't ask)
The Genius
Churl-Socket
Bilbo

My Mexican friend Judith calls me "Matchu", my friend Ryan called me "Mister Matt", and my buddy Brian calls me "Word" (after my middle name, Edward).

--Matt (who used to be Mbo)

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 07:10 PM

A sergeant I knew in the Army mannnnnnny years ago was named Faddis. I don't think I need to tell you what the guys made out of that!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 09:11 PM

My favorite nickname was "Miss Mary" used by a gentleman friend of mine in all seriousness. In public places people would stare curiously when he called me that. It was quite charming.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 09:29 PM

One time (a hundred years ago) it was my first day on a new job. Within the first half hour, I'd crashed a dump truck. As long as I worked there,( 6 years) I was "CRASH NELSON!" I also remember these wondefully nicknamed people: "Rattlesnake Johnson ; Johnny Jump Up; Big Mac and his son Quarter Pounder; Johnny Dugdale (a bulldozer operator) Scrap Iron (he'd NEVER clean out his truck). Nicknames ARE WONDERFUL. You can NEVER give yourself a nickname, you only can EARN one, usually by embarrasing events. CHEERS, Bob Nelson

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 10:33 PM

...oy................

I was more on the giving end and not on the receiving end. Most of the time it was in good fun and names would change with circumstances. As an adult I've always had a good time ribbing people about names and playing nickname games. But kids can be cruel and this thread forced me to recall several incidents that I have no pride in whatsoever. For all the good things that happen around here, the occasional thread comes along that dredges up parts of myself I had previously stuffed down the crack in the sofa, so to speak. I guess it the price we pay for all the great memories that are triggered here.

When this happens I always feel like I have to confess and do penance for my sins to get a little absolution. To make this one brief, I was pretty hot tempered and not unfamiliar with physical confrontation back in high school. One summer at the pool, this kid had been pissing me off for a few days and finally went over the line in the locker room. He was wrapped in a towel and made some smart-ass comment about the girl I was dating. I two punched him to the floor where he lay dazed as I took his towel, grabbed the stuff out of his locker and threw it out the door. He began to get up, bleeding pretty good from the mouth and nose and I went over, picked him up and stuffed him in the wash sink. The faucets ripped his back open which ended up requiring stitches. A friend of mine watching this capped it with, "What's the word now you sinky bastard?" The story got around and the guy was called "Sinky" by virtually one and all. When the school year started the same thing went on and he transferred to a Catholic high school.

Forgive me 'Catters for I have sinned. How does a "Hail Max" go?

On the other hand, I had a girl in my class all through school name Sharon Peters. In about the 8th grade, a friends father heard the name and cracked up, then asked, "What's that? Some new kind of bathroom game?" Before that we really hadn't "gotten" it!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Jimmy C
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 11:50 PM

I never had a nickname that stuck. The few that I remember are :

1 - Cushy which is aa abbreviation of my surname, the other one was " Seamy Beag" pronounced "shamey beyug" meaning Little Jimmy but only my Irish Speaking friends called me that.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Metchosin
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 12:06 AM

a student at my daughter's school had the misfortune of being named Isaac Hunt and unfortunately for him I guarantee that is not BS either.

I'm in no position to give absolution Spaw but neither will I cast stones. Been there, done that and some hollow victories can still dredge up the burn of shame in my cheeks and the sick knot of guilt in throat and stomach.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 01:11 AM

Then there was my dad's friend whose last name was Katt and named his son, I kid you not, Thomas, Tom for short.

Spaw, as long as it makes you feel better, it is good to share and I thank you. I think we have all got a few things we could confess that we'd be none too proud of...kids just seems to have a knack, at times. Not that adults don't.

luvyakat

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:16 AM

chop suey.....

DON"T ASK!!!

LOL

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Fibula Mattock
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:21 AM

A guy I worked with, whose surname was Dick, claimed he had a brother called Ramsey. I found this hilarious.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:23 AM

posh kid... ok, living in Liverpool for a few years whilst I was younger, with a slight Welsh accent, they thought I was posh.... duh huh NOT!

Scally -

and dizzy bint.... by my so call friends lately...

Ella

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Amergin
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:37 AM

That's a very nice story, Woody Uh I mean Kat.....

I think the worst I have ever been called was asshole, dickhead, and other names of that nature....but then I was always a bit of a smartmouthed bastard....guess some things never change....

Had a guy on a boat I used to work on we called Lester the Molester....why I don't know....I remember once during lifeboat drills, I pissed him off some how and he started slapping me....it was all I could do to keep from laughing....

Amergin

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: mkebenn
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 07:02 AM

Due to my rather "elvisy" mouth, Sucker Lips...Mike

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: English Jon
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 07:22 AM

I had a girlfriend who used to call me "mi salchicha" (spanish:"my sausage") which was a bit odd.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Scabby Doug at work
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 08:12 AM

I remember hearing about a guy who had a sailing dinghy, and was also unforunately stricken with psoriasis and eczema.

His workmates called him Skinbad the Sailor.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Jimmy C
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 08:44 AM

I forgot to mention that a guy I went to school with was named "Noel Madden", which is ok in English, but a literal transleation of his name into Irish means "Christmas Morning" so while at the gaeltacht in Donegal we just called him Santa ?.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:53 AM

This is not about a nickname, but a REAL name.

A girl I knew in high school was named Jack. Not Jaqueline, Jackie, or whatever----JACK! When she first moved there she had a lot of trouble with the school authorities, who told her that she couldn't register under a nickname. She had to get her parents to come to school and (in effect) swear under oath that Jack was her real name.

DAve Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:57 AM

Just had an ugly flashback myself.
In college I was pursued by a hopelessly dorky guy named Norbie. He actually called my home and asked for "Wild Thing" (!) which I have not lived down to this very day. For my birthday he sent me a dozen long stemmed red roses - and the dog peed on them. He was forever known as Norbie Nork after that. Too cruel especially when you realize that all he did was like me.

By the way, am I the only woman who thinks that long stem red roses are the least thoughtful flower to receive? Just because Hallmark and 1-800-FLOWERS push them doesn't make them romantic. I prefer daffodils and daisies. A huge basket of white daisies may me cheap in comparison but oh so romantic! Just a thought guys with Valentines day around the corner. Of course, why do we need Hallmark to tell us to be romantic only one day a year? RANT OFF. Sorry for the drift.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:58 AM

Ella, I had a cat I named Chop Suey. She was jet black and as a kitten was always getting into my houseplants and mucking about. One day I threatened to turn her into chop suey if she didn't stop. The kids thought that was the perfect name for her and it stuck. She turned out to be a beautiful and lovely cat.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Bun
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 10:30 AM

We had a mate in school called Michael Hunt, ...................he shortened his name to Mike, he had bad asthma and had to take medicine at palytime the school nurse used to call"has anyone seen mike hunt"
Its lie really but funny
Bun

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Matt_R
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 10:37 AM

My cat's name is Bun!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: LR Mole
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 11:38 AM

Pre-orthodontia I was called "Bugs". I wonder if this is a child's first experience of tone and intent signifying malice or belonging? I agree with some of you: boy, kids can be cruel little cusses.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Hollowfox
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:02 PM

CarolC, a Philadelphia lawyer is someone who uses fancier vocabulary than necessary.
Mary in Ky, I'm reminded of a throwaway joke I saw in an old movie. A proud papa wanted his newborn son to grow up to be a prizefighter. "Come along, Percy." says he.
As I said on another thread, I was usually the one who didn't need a nickname, but a college friend of mine with *that* kind of humor told me he was going to start a rumor about me, and he was kind enough to tell me what it was. So when some sweet young thing came up to me and asked,"Mary, are you a (pause while she glanced around) witch?" (I wasn't at the time, but would have loved to have been)"Well," says I, that depends on your definition. I suppose by the definitions used by the Hopi Indians or the Ashanti, I might be." (smartass anthropology major!) So she went skipping down the hill going She's-a-witch! She's-a-witch! My reputation was made. I was asked to speak to a class on the subject. (The teacher didn't ask if I was a witch, or for any other credentials, for that matter) I'll stand by anything I said; all I remember is pointing out that many demons were actually "politically fallen gods".
More than twenty years later, I was back in town to attend a wedding. I went into a music shop that was new when I was a student, and asked the sales clerk to tell the founder that Mary the Witch said "hello". He came bursting out of the back room to give me a big hug. It impressed the snot out of my husband (no mean feat), and made my day. If any of you go to Geneseo, NY, step into Buzzo's and tell them I said "hi". It's a neat store, and if Buzzo is there, you'll get even better service.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:10 PM

Geneseo? I get there occasionally (with or without a table0. I will look up Buzz and explain that I am part of the coven. Maybe I'll carry in a dead animal for effect.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Kim C
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:12 PM

My maiden name was Feathers so I got called all kinds of things. I married a Caudell so that made me KFC and I used to work with a woman who called me "Kentucky Fried."

In college it was Kimba. Now I have several... Kimba, Nadine, Svetlana, MoonPie, Knitting Woman, Princess... depends on who's doing the calling. :)

Mister's uncle calls him Zan, as in Gitarzan.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: CarolC
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:24 PM

Boy, Hollowfox, I never would have guessed that one. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I've been wondering about it for more than thirty years. I wonder if us Philadelphia Lawyers make much money.

Carol

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: annamill
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:33 PM

I think the term "Philadelphia Lawyer" also means a strong gift of blarney. Able to turn any situation around and make it fit to your favor.

Love, annamill

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Amergin
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:49 PM

When I was growing up (and they still sometimes do) my aunts would call me George as in I'll hug him and squeeze and call him George....but then these are the same aunts who taught me to say "Come here, Little Girl" in a very leering voice....

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:56 PM

So you'll be using that as your defense in the pedophilia trial then?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Amergin
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 04:58 PM

Hey, that's a grand idea, Spaw....thanks!

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Nancy King
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 07:23 PM

An old friend, whom veteran D.C. folkies will remember, was widely known as "Pete the Spy." He was listed in the FSGW membership list under S for Spy. Many years ago he and I were accompanying The Boarding Party on a gig (as roadies, not performers), and when they finished singing "Saltpetre Shanty," Pete said, "I think I'll change my name." "What to?" says I. "Pedro the Crimp."

--Nancy

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 08:50 PM

I am acquainted with a lawyer whose name is--so help me-- Donald Duck!

What's more, after what he MUST have gone through with that nane, what do you suppose he named his first son? That's right!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Gwion
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:22 PM

When I was a little girl, my uncle Ray, called me "roochie". I have never figured that one out, but I had pet names for all of my daughters. in order by their ages are "Ree", "Belle", and "Boo".

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 03:51 AM

I have one friend who is actually Robert, his mother calls him Robin, his workmates call him Bob and those of us who've known him since College days call him Jock (Walsall born of Scottish parents). He, but he alone, sometimes calls me Rocky, though I don't resemble a racoon or even Sylvester Stallone. At school there was a craze for everyone to have a nickname. Neil Franklin was always "Ben", a boy whose initials were AG was "Silver". I for a time was Spiegel (sorry, Max) after a character on the Billy Cotton Bandshow ( a sax player who indulged in cross talk stage-jewish humour), probably because I pinched his jokes. Since my late teens though I've always just been Roger (except to 'Spaw who calls me Skiff!).
RtS

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: bill\sables
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 06:45 AM

In Durham there was a neighbor of mine, a retired coal miner, whose name was Harry Kirton. He had two daughters and called them Alice and Annette who were always called a lace curtain and a net curtain. Another neighbor called Alf Hart was so pissed off with people making fun of his name that he changed it by deed poll to Wilf Hart. We also had an Albert Hall in the village.
Bill

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 07:16 AM

I never think of names without remembering this Groucho Marx story. One night he had two women on his show, each one named Heidi. Groucho asked how he could tell them apart then answered himself saying, "I'll call you Heidi-Hi and I'll call you Heidi-Ho......and you can call me Cab Calloway."

I've been waiting years to use that line but I never meet anyone named Heidi, let alone two of them.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 07:39 AM

Kat...

what a good name for a cat... lol

Mine are called, Tigger Thomas possum belly

and Montague, fortesque... (monty for short) or, poopy head - prat features - git a cat when he is naughty

Ella

Tigger was actually called Elvis before I got him... but I was blowed if I was going to stand out in the garden and street shouting for Elvis.... my neighbours would think i was mad

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Scabby Douglas
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 07:43 AM

In the IT department (where I work) we have an appalling collection of nicknames for a variety of people.

One guy who always collaborates with the "enemy" is called The Quisling

Sidney Greenstreet is the soubriquet applied to a large gent with a very soft voice.

The Pimp is a chap who dresses in very 70's clothes like someone out of Starsky and Hutch.

Our logistics centre is on Jersey which has been renamed Fraggle Rock

These are the printable ones...

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: LR Mole
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 09:33 AM

Once met a guy with the last name of Poole who had named his son Seth. At least I think I did. And Bill (?)Lear, inventor of the Lear Jet, had daughters named Chanda and Lava.

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Hollowfox
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 09:38 AM

Sinsull, you'll love the store, but don't go to all the trouble of scrounging up a critter carcasa. After all, the joke is thirty years old, at least. (With or without a table?)

Subject: RE: Nostalgia: nicknames and name calling
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 01:40 PM

After the early Burns night celebrations at the Jug last night Bill has a new nickname-Billy Two Knees. Photos will be sent to Alison later tonight for the new mudcat photoloft.