Nicknames

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This week’s prompt is: Nicknames

Did you grow up with a nickname? Was the nickname a form of endearment or a shielded criticism? Has your nickname influenced you in any way? Did you ever give a nickname to a family member? Have you tried to get rid of a nickname? If you could give yourself your own nickname what might it be?

Almost everyone in our family had nicknames. Many of them were just a shortened version of their given names. I never knew my ‘Uncle Badeye’s’ real name was Hubert, nor my ‘Aunt Hainty’s’ real name was Elon until I was in high school.

My siblings and I all had nicknames given to us along the way – most given to us by our parents. We each called each other by those nicknames for our entire lives – always as terms of endearment.

I was not ‘Maggie’ until I left home. It is a shortened version of my given name that I took myself. My mother called me ‘MagCindy’ and that is what both my sisters continued to call me until they passed away.

When I was a toddler, I was fond of shedding my diaper or underpants and running around the yard. Johnny, the older boy that lived next door gave me the nickname ‘Nakipoo’. He was the only one who called me that consistently although some people in my family called me that occasionally. I ran into Johnny a few years ago when I returned home for a visit and he greeted me by saying “Well, if it isn’t little Nakipoo!” It was never said in a mean way but I suppose that is how he has always remembered me even after all these years. Trust me, I don’t run around that way any longer!

When my daughter first started school, she made me a Mother’s Day card. In the card she professed her commitment to clean for me. She misspelled ‘Mommy’ on the card. Of course I kept everything and she happened upon the card later as an adult and I forever became ‘Momy’.

We also became ‘bears’ as my daughter and her wife started referring to us as ‘Mama Bear’ and ‘Papa Bear’. Now they have the word ‘bear’ tacked onto the end of their names, too.

I have never had nicknames I felt were intended to be derogatory or hurtful in any way.

I grew up in the south and everyone was ‘honey’ or ‘sweetie’. Again, it is a term endearment, but I learned all too quickly that it is not received that way by others. I had enough vicious comments in response to a term I was raised with, I have cut it out of my vocabulary except for a few very close people. I understand how women may be offended by the term, especially when used by men they do not know so it is just easier not to use it.

I have a couple of terms of affection I use with my husband but we mostly refer to one another by our given names. I call my grandsons ‘buddy’ or ‘my buddy’ but most of my granddaughters are simply addressed by their given names or a shortened version of their given names. They are always used as terms of endearment.