Katy S – Pardon? The funniest things you’ve overheard from a conversation you weren’t part of.
Katy P – People call me ****, explain a nickname!
Peg – Photos – Take a photograph of something awesome/random.
I love nicknames[i]! I love finding the perfect one for people (especially when they are embraced by the receiver) and also having them made for me. I think it shows that people care about you, in an odd way, enough to notice something silly or fun about your personality and make up an affectionate name to match. Some nicknames don’t take off; others have been known to replace actual given names. I bet each and every one of you can think of *someone* from sometime in your life whom you had to think really hard to remember their real name. N1 has a friend whose parents even call him by his nickname! The whole world knows this boy as Jimmy (on account of him looking like Jimmy Neutron), I didn’t even know his name was actually Rhys till I’d known him a good few years!
I personally have several nicknames I have acquired over the years. As a kid, for example, my dad called me ‘Smidgeon’ or ‘Smidge’, which I think was meant to be ironic as I was always quite tall for my age. I was also often referred to as the ‘cuckoo in the blue tits nest’, again because I’m the only one out of my 5 siblings which hasn’t taken after mum in terms of stature. I was taller than mum and my brothers and sisters by the time I was 13!
When I started to go out on the town I quickly earned my second nickname, ‘Cinderella’. Thus called because within an hour of dancing I would inevitably take my shoes off. This was back in the days before ballerina pumps becoming popular, so everyone would be wearing ridiculous shoes and I hated it! Amazingly though I have never, ever, not once, had glass in my foot *touches wood furiously*. Just lucky I guess!
One of my more recent nicknames came along at uni, or just after when I was working as an elected officer for UWESU. Being a president, two other unionists, Kaley and Penny (I’m not sure exactly which one coined it) titled me ‘Obama’, a name which has stuck. In fact my mother is now known as ‘Obamum’ and to this day I drive the ‘Obamobile’. Always makes me smile 🙂
I’m sure there I could think of plenty more if I took the time to consider it, but these are the three which stand out! Do you have any nicknames? What are they and how did they come about?
Alphathon scores currently stand at:
It’s so close!!!!
[i] Nice ones…not name calling. Name calling is quite different, akin to bullying, something which does not sit well with me.
A little bit of Katyness.... 
Haha, you’re definitely not the only person I know who takes their shoes off, but I’ve never heard anyone called Cinderella before, love it!
The Obamobile is also INCREDIBLE. What a good piece of nicknamemaking 😀
I would like to say that I take credit for Obama. I believe the way my brain was thinking was that you were a president and awesome and nice to gay people. Or I was drunk. Probably both.
I agree, Obamobile is a great name for a car! I once named someone’s car Geraldine. Haha. Nicknames are funny…Obama, that is rather random. Sounds like you’ve had quite a range of nicknames through the years.
I have a friend who gets called Toastie, hardly ever Sjaan, partly because Toastie is easier to say/spell. 😛
The girls were responsibile for that one too 🙂 My old car was Molly Malone, she was a goodun. Geraldine is a good name for a car I think!