Nicknames are one of the major staples of human relationships, immediately signifying a power structure that defies peer-to-peer identification. For example: if a guy calls his friend by a long-standing nickname, others feel as if they must achieve a certain level of closeness before being able to use that nickname. Conversely, if your boss calls you a certain nickname--something like "Hoss" or "Chief"--it may not be a term of endearment but one of devaluation, in which your boss is asserting his or her dominant position: you can't ever,
ever refer to your boss as "Champ," no matter how badly you'd like to.
I say all this, but I've never really had a nickname. And I've
always wanted one. I've been called things in the short-term, and usually only by specific people: my sister calls me "Willow" and my friend Ross calls me "Bill." A teacher called me "Wills" once, but she was a drunk and I'm not sure it wasn't just the whiskey talking. That's about it. For a while, I thought people should call me "Tex," and the reason is sort of bizarre: my middle name is Walker. Walker = "Walker, Texas Ranger" = Tex. Nope. Not even "Dubya," which makes sense since I share George W.'s middle name!
Of course, you can't choose your own nickname. Nicknames
evolve. For example: I have a friend whose full name is Raphael. He usually introduces himself as "Raffi," pronounced like "coffee." My friends and I hated him quite a lot at first, so we called him "Rafiki" to keep him in his place. Eventually, he grew on us. He became "Raffi," like the singer. And somewhere down the line, he became "Roofie," like the date-rape drug. So now, Raphael is Roofie. I hope to one day call him "Rufio," for obvious reasons:
RU. FI. OOOOooooooooooooooooooo...!
And then there's Tim. For almost two full years, my friends and I referred to him as "Tom," because he was pissing us off. He's still in my phone as "Tom." We created a whole biography for Tom, knowing that he will be nearly bald by 35 though still wearing a small ponytail to stay "hip" as he drives his red Mitsubishi Spyder down the streets of Hartford, blasting early-2000s U2.
"Hello, Hello! I'm at a place called Vertigo..."
Maybe I'm just jealous. Maybe it's hard to give a nickname to someone who goes by a nickname: "Will" for William. The truth is, whether the nickname comes out of respect or derision, you're probably stuck with it for a long time. My friend Tess is now and will forever be "Drip-Dry." Don't ask why.
Which brings us to you:
Have you ever been given any nicknames, and if so, how did you get them?
RU. FI. OOOOooooooooooooooooooo...!And then there's Tim. For almost two full years, my friends and I referred to him as "Tom," because he was pissing us off. He's still in my phone as "Tom." We created a whole biography for Tom, knowing that he will be nearly bald by 35 though still wearing a small ponytail to stay "hip" as he drives his red Mitsubishi Spyder down the streets of Hartford, blasting early-2000s U2.
"Hello, Hello! I'm at a place called Vertigo..."
Comments (28)
all my friends call me lillith to annoy me, and i started calling my brother hung co, hungclers.. when i was about 10, and it stuck haha he hates it, i love it
My friends call me Soni, short for Sonia lol.
I've always wanted an inside joke nickname. My friends and I aren't creative and if I ever gave them a nickname from a joke...they'll just get mad. =\
Leonard.. i dont even know how i got that one.
CeCe. I got it from my friend during volleyball season freshmen year. I have no clue where that came about since my name starts with a K not a C 0.o
My name's Fira but some of my friends call me Fif (short for Fifi). Supposedly I got it because I always meowed like a cat and Fifi is a cat's name.
Personally, I always though Fifi was a name more fitting for a poodle than a cat.
There are no shortage of nicknames in my circle of friends. You have Jesus Mike (aka Pretty Ricky), Kenny Double Nut Brown Hernadez, Father B., Shankster, Romancin' Hansen, Brett Brettersen, Bukakellie, Godfather Allen, Trippy Girl (she doesn't know that's her nickname, shhhhh), and me, Minja, aka, Fresh, aka, Sensei, aka Ethan, the emo drummer.
And yes, we all got our nicknames from some drunken foolishness. Good times, good times.
@ordinary_gir1@xanga - hahahahaha, Leonard??? Really? That is so random.
My Rugby friends have bizarre nicknames, which are hilarious. There's Baby Jesus, Cam Bear, Pink, and Waldo (cuz he looks like Waldo).
My nick name is BeBe my real name is Mindy. Its bebe since when i was just born thats what my om called me instead of baby. And minders to some just because i dont know why
@killthoseclowns@xanga - well, my name is LENA. and for some reason i reminded them of a man, and they just called me lenoard (which sounds nothing like my name btw)
My nickname is my last name...which is Murphy...because it's a badass name. I don't introduce myself as Murphy...it just happens with certain friends. (Mostly the ones that are a little younger than me!) Most people just call me Megan but some of my newer college friends have taken to calling me Meg...which use to annoy me but it grew on me.
One instance with this kid in highschool though...we all hated him. He was bringing down the morale at our lunch table and was generally a douchebag. His name was Josh but I started calling him Jimmy to piss him off...everyone started calling him Jimmy and he HATED it...so I demoted him and started calling him Clarence...everyone followed suit...eventually he pissed us off so much that I named him Adolf Buttsmack and that's what he's still known by to this day.
muffin was my nickname. until someone was being a smartarse and they called me Moofie, and i guess it just stuck.
i believe his words were "Moofie is how the british pronouce the word "Muffin".. "Moofin".. hence, "Moofie" or "Moof""".
yeah, it's really complicated. haha.
My nickname is Shotty.
It's a reference to my favorite weapon in FPS.
Although, it has been a recent occurrence. I once was like you, wanting a nickname, but alas without one. I wondered when my time would come. And sure enough, it did, and it was wonderful... Lol.
I mean, if worse comes to worse, you could ask some of your fellow Xangans for a nickname, who I'm sure would gladly oblige.
Uh oh. I know someone named Raphael who sounds exactly like the Raffi you're describing. Does he have a hyphenated last name? o_o
...how did he become roofie? o_0
@SpazzyFantastic@xanga I'm scared what you guys would name me!
@colorless_clarity@xanga Hahaha this is not the same Raffi, but that's bizarre.
AND
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga I don't remember...
Yeah, everyone around me has nicknames. But their the bad kind of nicknames like Lil'Shorty, or Bird, or Lil' Puppet, or Primo, or Negro. When you meet someone its not uncommon for them to introduce someone as Lucky or Lulu or Jesus. Latinos can drop a Jesus no problem.
It all started when my babysitter called me Fefe (pronounced fee fee), that has followed me everywhere and only my friends can call me that. Fe (pronounced fee) can only be used by my immediate family, closest friends, and husband. After that, pretty much anything that starts with F will get my attention. I've never been called the eff word, but one of my guy friends used to call me "eff word". I have a huge list of them.. it's pretty amazing and it just seems like everyone who meets me comes up with something. Even the IT guy at work calls me by my username .. fwebb. I think I've just been blessed with people who didn't want to call me Felicia. Either that or Fe was easier to remember.. hmm
I have a nickname. I'm not going to tell you what it is, because you didn't ask.
But I got it because, when I first started at my new school I fell asleep in my music class. One boy decided to name me based on that, and eventually it stuck. I have to say, by getting that nickname, although I didn't like it at first it actually got me known amougnst the entire year group, and practically forged friendships for me.
Thankyou nickname
Mine was "Piper" in high school....I got it from a friend who was comparing my singing voice to an organ....its volume, to be specific
My last name starts with "Mack" so in high school I was given several nicknames including Macaroni (annoying), The Macklinator (also annoying), and Big Mack. The last was ok and especially funny because I'm all of 5'5" and 100 lbs.
My friend Joyce has called me DD for years, mainly due to my last name when I was married also started with a D. Growing up when the show Full House was really popular some of my friends called me DJ after the character in the show, because somehow they thought I looked like her?
My name's Nicole but Nikki's never really caught on =/.
My name's Brittany. My brother-in-law is really creative and has come up with tons of nicknames for me: Britannica, Britowski, Britholomew, Briffery (Briff for short), Brimmery, and Britty.
Also, when I was younger, I would say my name as Meepme. Once my friends found out, I was known as Meeps, Meepers, or Meeperson.
And, I'm really tall and have long arms so I was known as Windmill in high school.
Lastly, my last name has given me a lot of annoying nicknames--I don't want to say what it is because there aren't many in the US. I'll just say it's Russian. But because of it, all my life I have heard Upchuck, Woodchuck, Tonka-truck, and nunchuck.
Wow, I've never really realized how many nicknames I have until I wrote this. Kind of ridiculous.