NICKNAMES Nicknames, those terse, verbal caricatures which symbolize our personality as we are viewed to be by other people, come in a wide variety. Much depends on what part of the country you are in at the moment the tag is placed upon you.
Genuine nicknames are indelible, too. I find that, once applied, they are next impossible to get rid of. They seem to endure just as body tattoo artwork does.
When I first came to his Shenandoah Valley of Virginia I found that a great many people gave their children names which duplicated those of others with kindred surnames so many turned to the use of nicknames to avoid confusion everyday living, turned to the use of nicknames to avoid confusion in daily living. Many families shared common ethnic or religious backgrounds and each set forth a stock of folk heroes names which were passed on to the following generations.
It was not uncommon to find grown men still being called b y their toddler titles. “Lil' Bro”, or the full “Little Brother” was applied to men six feet tall and weighing double that of the person calling them by that name. Others in that group might be called “Runt”, “Littl'un”, “Chip”, “Nipper”,”Shorty”... even “Tiny”.
Others called their children by the first two initials of their real name. We had a “JW” nearby. “EC” was our rural mail delivery man for many years; retired now, and a ham radio operator known as “EC”. There was one ”OK” and “OB” owned the the farm just north of my father-in-law's family farm known as “ID's”. Years earlier I knew a family in Norfolk, Va in which both the mother and father hated the names their parents had given them. The chose to name all their children w
with just two initials - our playmates - for later use. The plan was for them to attain legal age at which time they could chose any names they liked starting with those two designated letters. Those initialed people have all, by this time, worked their way through the Social Security System - initials only - and found stones in some local cemetery - still as initials.
I vaguely recall having written on this topic many years ago. I have a feeling that I,digressed at this point to remembering nicknames but I think I will be content just remembering people's names which have meant a great deal to me. When you start listing the names the memories flow back and you begin to understand how those people it into your ...into my life .There have been hosts of Ozzies, Bessies, Dukes, Lonnies, Myrt, Ruffeys, Buds,Tiddy-Wa's, Bevs, Woodies, Bill's, Skeeters, Flattops, - hundreds of them!
These people who come back most easily through the nicknames by which you knew them are probably more important to you than you realize. You knew them beyond their solid selves – perhaps touching on the edge of make-believe.
A.L.M. March 23, 2005 [c498wds]
