Nouns and Verbs is myparismagazine.com's weekly challenge where we write about what specific words mean to us. Join in the fun via the comment section, telling us how or why these ordinary nouns and verbs are meaningful to you. This week we’re thinking about NICKNAMES.
One of the many things that I love about growing up in the South is the way Southerners use language. We Southerners are as “fast as greased lightening, slow as molasses, full as a tick or ugly as a mud fence.” Yes, we’re colorful, and so are our nicknames.
Growing up in Henry County I heard plenty of nicknames. Some of them were rhymes, like my best friend, Joanie Pony, which was later shortened to just Pony. Forty-years later, she is listed as “Pony” in my cell phone contacts. Some names morph into nicknames, like my friend Jeff Perry who become known as Prairie Dog one day in grade school when we were studying animals of the Southwest. “Perry” to “Prairie” isn’t much of a stretch when you’re in fourth grade.
My all-time favorite nickname belonged to my old pal, Crawford “Crawdad” Chambers. I imagine that his named morphed from Crawford into Crawdad one day on a fishing expedition, but that’s just speculation.
I don’t know if Crawdad or Pony or Prairie Dog liked their nicknames, but they seemed to embrace them, much like Claudia Alta Taylor a.k.a. “Lady Bird” Johnson embraced hers, and rightfully so. After all, a nickname is a gift. It is uniquely yours. It’s a conversation starter. It’s often easier to remember than your given name. And it usually brings a smile to people’s faces when they meet you.
So here’s to each of you who make us grin when we call your name, be it Cotton, Tiny, Red, Hoss, Blondie, Goober, Doodle Bug, Puryear Slim, Henry Flash, Grunt, Tuncy Weence, Chip, Trip or Skip. As your mama has probably already told you, “People only call you that because they love you.”
Share your thoughts on NICKNAMES and check back often to read what others are writing.
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6 comments:
Even at 53, nicknames still have a way of cropping up. When you are called "Big Moose" and only "Big Moose" from 1969 until around 1980 that is the only name many people know you by. I still, occasionally get called "Moose". It is usually by Bubba, or Cowboy, or Exlax, or Chopper. Of course, it could be by Ears, Lil' Possum, Gordon, or Punchy. Then, again, it might be by Monk, Wierd, Dirty, or Sketi.
I think I would be remiss if I did not tell how I got the name "Big Moose". From the age of thirteen, up until nineteen, motorcycles played a big part in my life. The guys I used to ride with had a before church ritual every Sunday morning. They would go to Fry drug and read the motorcycle magazines. One morning they found an article about the leader of a motorcycle gang who was so big that he had a sidecar mounted between two motorcycles! Of course, his name was Big Moose. Man, did that name ever stick!
When I was a very little girl my daddy gave me a nickname. It was one of the funny things he did that made me love him. These crazy little names made us feel special (and sometimes embarrassed). Some of the nicknames in the family were Sam Sam the Business Man, Poot Gibson, Debbie Darlin', TeeTiny, Fat Foot and Chief.
Over the years I have had several nicknames. Cabbage Head, Weasel, PJ, Lee, and the latest one, Henry Flash! But the nickname Daddy gave me will always be my favorite...Little Oofus McGoofus.
When I was little, I went in Leach's Music with my dad one day, as we did quite frequently. I couldn't have been but 4 or 5 years old and was very soft-spoken. The man at the counter in Leach's, not Bob, but can't remember the other guy's name, asked me what my name was. I told him "Staci" and he misunderstood and thought I said "Daisy." I still hear that name every now and then from my dad, who was quite amused by the nickname.
There are many ways to show someone you care about them. You can give them a gift, give them a hug, or even just tell them. Possibly,though, the most meaningful way to show you care is by giving someone a nickname.
A nickanme connects you to a person on a more presonal level. It shows that you mean enough to them to hold a special place in their mind and thier heart. A nickname is something that you and the person who gave it to you will never forget.
Well, how about Professor Williams or Professor Snodgrass, or even Professor Doolittle, as I was described as one attempting to "do as little as possible".... at least according to Mr Atkinson, my sixth grade math teacher at Atkins-Porter. I was notoriously known as a frequent "talker" as well as being pretty good at math. For being such a conversationalist, I had to be separated from my classmates. Mr. Atkinson placed MY desk up front next to his. He claimed it was a "special" desk, reserved for those known to be "excellent mathematicians" but I realized years later the true reason... to keep me from disrupting others during math class. As far as "doing as little as possible"... I guess that was true, too. Professor Doolittle did do as little math as possible, but I recall always making A's.
I cannot remember not having a nickname. My daddy always had a garden when I was growing up and my very favorite veggie was, yes - butterbeans and I could eat anyone under the table. So how appropriate that I was called, Jean, Jean the butterbean!! It stuck. I went into the nursing home Sunday to visit my 85 year old cousin whose mind is not so good and she grinned and said, "Jean the butterbean!!
I was round as I was tall when I was a youngster and I was also called baby elephant. Needless to say I was not so pleased with that one.
And in the 80's I started construction work and I think every construction worker in the world has a nickname. Someone will say do you remember so and so and I will say, "what is their nickname?" Nineteen years ago, I started to work at Dupont (Construction)and right off was named Olive Oil and later Abnormal. Both stuck!!
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