Wednesday, July 28, 2010

What's in a Name?

Do you have a nickname?  Do you use them for other people?  I love nicknames and endearments.

When I was young, I was tall and skinny.  Thus my nickname in our family was "Legs".  I was also called "Pumpkin", which I hated.  Nothing much made me madder.  I had a cousin I spent a lot of time with and we usually got along, but when we didn't--watch out!  She called me "Little Orphan Annie", due to my living with my aunt and uncle.  But she stopped when I'd call her "Two Ton Annie"--she always carried a little extra weight.

While I don't mind shortened versions of most names, I have never liked being called "Bev".  Only a handful of people have gotten away with it.  I won't always correct those who use it, but enough people know now that they will correct the culprits who try.  Sometimes, I will say "erly" when they just say "Bev".  They'll look at me funny and ask "what?"  I'll say "my name is Beverly".  Is that rude?  Oh, well.  My daughter Holly now calls me "early" and for a while I thought maybe her kids would pick it up.  But they call me Beeba.  Her oldest son couldn't say "grandma" and somehow it came out Beeba.  I like it.

I've called my children by several nicknames.  Don't know where most of them came from.  Like "fart blossom".  We called Shana "butter"--short for butterball.  I call most of the grandkids "Doo" or "Doo Bug"--short for doodlebug.  Clayton was "tank" when he was little because of the way he was built.  Sugar Bear, Shortcake, Lollipop, Buddy, Holly Molly Mechelle, Shana Banana, Claybee, Lissy Loo, Miss Ma'am.  The list goes on and on.

A couple of my adult children still call me mommy.  I love that.  To me, it signifies a closer relationship.

Darrell's mom calls him George for some reason, so I've picked that up.  Once I called him that at church and a new friend said "I thought your husband's name was Darrell".  If I'd been quick enough, I would have said "oops, did I call him George again?  That was my first husband's name!"  I also call him by his middle name a lot, which led Shana to call him Bruce Daddy when she was about 2.  That got us some interesting looks.  There's only been one thing I've called him that he didn't like and he let me know it real quick.  I thought it was cute, but he evidently didn't!

Darrell calls me by several endearments--I joke that it's because he doesn't always remember my name and calls me honey to keep out of trouble.  He still calls me baby and I hope he never gets too old to do that.  If I'm being a little anal about something, he'll call me by a relative's name that lets me know I'm getting a little carried away (because that person is very OCD).

So, what little names are you known by?  Or use?  Inquiring minds want to know.

9 comments:

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Fart blossom...giggle giggle snort:)
That's a classic! lol!

I'm Minnie...the hubs is Chilly, Smitty, ChillyWilly and HeartPatient...Cat is Kit Kat Kadillac, Miss Kitty, Monkey and Peaches...My son threatened bodily injury if I reveal his nicknames! lol!

Oh! I was doodlebug all thru my childhood!

6L's said...

loren often times calls me leilani (my middle name)...other than that, mostly just the typical endearments (babe, honey, etc.) and baby names (sugar boogar bear, etc.) for loni.

Lauren said...

When Cassidy was one, we called her Bug. And now we call her Goose. Don't really know why. Grant has always been Bubba. Nate doesn't really have a nickname yet (besides Nate of course), though I call him all kinds of things-- Boy-o, Buddy, etc.

Sweet Tea said...

My boys used to taunt their sister by calling her "Amelia G. Plotnick, and the G stands for gross". Don't know where the name came from but we still laugh about this when we all get together.

Unknown said...

I want to apologize if i have ever called/typed you 'Bev' I remember you posted about this on FB awhile back and from that point on have made conscious effort to type out beverly...I hope you can forgive me... =)

Now when i was younger I was called spider legs by all the boys because i was so much taller LOL my real name is georgina but everyone calls me Georgie or Gina and I love them both

Jenn said...

Cute!

Logan's was Logi-pooh...he would die if he knew I shared that...lol.

Jessica is Sissy.

Joey used to be Joe-Joe (when he was a baby).

Jeff and I don't use any names for each other, other than Jenn and Jeff. No clue why. I'll have to ask him. ;o)

Many of Jeff's family and friends call him Jefe.

I go by Jen or Jenn or Jenni or Jen-Jen (my parents sometimes call me that).

There ya go!

Never Enough Orange said...

Nate's nickname is superfly! How can you forget?

Angela said...

My hubby's nickname for me is Bookienoodle. Elizabeth's is weazle, Grace's is Tater and Lillian's name is Lilly Bobby.

Traylor Family said...

Loved this post. I wrote a similar one a few years ago on another blog that I had started just for old memories. This inspired me to copy it over to my 'family' blog. I hope I can find it now!!!

PS. My nickname is Cinny (sounds like sinny). Growing up I was really tan and my family called me Cinnamon Stick. I have an older brother just 17 months older and he couldn't pronounce Cinnamon and it came out Cinny. It's stuck all these years.

At one point I was embarrassed by it, but I'm glad that I kept it to myself and now embrace being called that!

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