The Nickname
You ever thought about 'nicknames' before?
Like what's in a nickname or where do they come from or why do we give them to people?
When I start to think back to some of the nicknames we games to people alot of them were indicative of the type of person that we, we being his friends, perceived him as. My group of friends would pick names that were quite obvious most of the time and it was pretty easy for an outsider to figure out why we called someone "Stoney." Or why we called someone else "Whiskey."
But then you have those names which really don't make any sense to an outsider. They are names like "E" or "Turtle" or maybe even "Sally" for another friend. At first you might guess that the first guy likes drugs and the second guy is always slow or late. While the second nickname does hold true, these are actually nicknames from a hip HBO TV series 'Entourage'. (BTW if you haven't seen it, you are missin ' out)
So you have your 'quite clear' nicknames that are self explanatory, then you have your nicknames that are only explainable through a story, but then you also have your third kind which are the ones that are extensions of existing names. (Kind of like Bamer for me, as my last name is Bame) Outside of these three reasons there aren't too many other explanations for nicknames, unless they are pet names from girlfriends or your mom still likes to call you 'peanut' or something, even though you are 6'2'' and weigh in at over 200lbs. :)
Now that we know where they come from a bit, I want to ask the question, "why do we give them to people?"
I think it could be because we want to personalize these important people in our lives and in our inner circles. We want to make them 'ours' so-to-speak. I think we name our friends and family member differently because it places them in a higher status in our own lives. I mean lets be honest, you aren't going to call some friend "flipper" unless you know him really well and you would do anything for him, and vice versa. These silly little names we use stand for more than just some cheap amusement, but they stand for a symbol of some sorts. A symbol that says that they belong in our circle and that they are our friends. And they show that you have a good bond with that person.
What do you think? Why do you think we give people nicknames? Just for fun or for some other subliminal reasons.
Posted in: abstract, Entourage, friends, friendship, men, nickname, random thought, rant, women on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at at 10:24 AM
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Yes, because we want to make them ours, or we want them to know they're one of ours. Which is a good feeling. :)
It's about intimacy. It's about showing that you've bothered to go to all the trouble of getting to know someone well enough that you can give them a name that is more than the name they were born with. You've picked out something in their character that is remarkable enough to name them by, or you've spent enough time and effort with them that you have a shared joke, or story, or history, or that you simply care about them enough to give them a name that shows how much you care.
I like nicknames. I like being given them, and that's because the only people who've given them to me have been ones I've been super close to. So it's always meant a little something special to hear them call me by it. :)
....... On the other hand, if your nickname is 'Stinky' or 'Two-bit Whore', all of the above need not apply. ;) Haha, luckily I've never done anything to attract a bad nickname so to me nickname are - and will always be - an honour to have. :)
I like nicknames. I give them to people because it's more special- I feel like they're closer to me.
I 100% agree. I give nicknames to the ones closest to me. I think this is standard for most people.
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comment: My name is Cynthia, growing up my nick name was CINDY not only just be cause it is short for Cynthia..but I actually had a lisp like Cindy Brady! LOL sucks right til this day my childhood friends still call me Cindy. i hate it lol
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I don't know. The person that does my horse back riding used to call me Ducky. My mom calls me Becky, but that's because my middle name is Rebecca. There's a kid at my school who calls me Scotty, like the Star Trek character.