Dumb Kwestion #41 - Nicknames

Hey don't look know but it has been a few weeks and I'm posting another Dumb Kwestion!!! 
I know you are all super thrilled and can't wait so see what trivial query I have for you this time....well wait not further here it is!

Have you ever had a nickname?

I will actually chime in right away on this one.  I have a really short first name "Gary" so pretty much nobody has ever shortened it to something easier or quicker to say (like my son who's name is Nicholas, but he goes by Nick....lol a real "nick-name").  But I have had at least two nick-names.  The first one I have explained before, so many here might remember it.  Staybrite is actually not just my handle here, but a nick-name I got in the Army.  I was a pretty good soldier and always did what was expected of me.  I even got a medal for a major inspection rather early on in my career (the Army Commendation Medal or ARCOM for short).  For a couple years I was the only soldier below the rank of Sergeant in my unit that even had an ARCOM.  Back in the old days of the Army we used to have to shine our own silver and brass (belt buckles, and uniform insignia), but there was this company that made brass and silver insignia that were permanently shiny (the company was called Sta-Brite).  Because of my reputation and my last name "Stielow" one of the sergeants started calling me Staybrite, within a few months it had stuck and pretty much everyone in my unit called me that.

I was also given another nick-name by the twin girls that lived next door from us for several years.  I could never tell the two of them apart, and they thought it was fun to tease me and call me Gar-bear.  I wouldn't think anything of it and probably wouldn't consider it a real nick-name, but some of their family still lives in the same town as us and anytime I run into one of them they still call me Gar-Bear,  they are the only ones who do it, but they have been calling me that for almost 20 years.

Speaking of Bear where's Beardad?

As a kid my brothers called me Beav because I looked a lot like Jerry Mathers. 

At work I have a nickname. Some people here don't even know my real name. I was given the name "Radio" when I first hired on because I previously worked at a radio station. So everyone at work calls me that. 

We have tons of nicknames here. We have someone named Pork Chop, Pookie, Woody, Dopey, Lefty, Wide Load, Big Sexy, Lucious, Speedy, Hollywood, Humpty Dumpty, Jukebox and tons of others. Some of them are funny. Jukebox got his name because he always has plumbers crack. One day someone put a nickel in the crack and he got the name Jukebox. Humpty walked out of the break room one time and fell down in front of everyone and someone said Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and it just stuck.

I've never had a real nickname and giving yourself one just doesn't work.  I have a few people who call me by my initials, DC.  One of our elders at church calls me Big D.  One of our Realtor members calls me Man of Steel.  I have no idea why.

In high school, my best friend used to refer to me as "Topher".  It's just the last half of my name.  One of the guys in PE heard him call me that and thought he said "Goofer".  They referred to me that way for a couple of years.  It went away as I just refused to answer anyone that used the name.  The guy that gave it to me made sure that during my junior year that it got put in the yearbook since he was on the yearbook committee.  After high school, no one has called me Goofer.

Years later, I would become Big Chris.  I went to church with a family whose 11 year old son was also named Chris.  There was a little guy around 4 years old that loved both of us and followed either of us wherever we went.  If the little guy called for Chris, both of us would answer him just to irritate him.  One day after a few months of this, he stomped his little foot and pointed to each of us starting with me and said, "Fwom now on, you Big Kwis and you Widdle Kwis!"  To this kid, it stuck.  Soon, the other kids in church called me that.  The adults soon followed.  We left that church in 2000, but the people from there still call me Big Chris.  We ended up at another church with the same family in 2003 and that small boy was a teen in my youth group.  All of that church called me Big Chris, too.  So, when I started subbing in schools in 2009, I introduced myself that way. I introduced myself at Fall Creek (my last church) the same way to the kids.  

It feels weird now to be in a church where the people just call me Chris.  They don't add Bro. or Pastor.  It is just Chris.  I wish they'd learn my real name and just say Big Chris.

When I decided to do the blues albums, I tossed several names around.  I decided to use the same Big Chris name as that is who I have been for most of my adult life.  I've been Big Chris to a lot of folks since 1996--23 years.

I had a neighbor named Richard who used to call me Big Derek.  So he'd say, "Hey, Big Derek!" and I'd answer with, "Hey, Little Richard!".

My name is Brent, aren't too many nicknames for that.

MikeInFla wrote:

Speaking of Bear where's Beardad?

As a kid my brothers called me Beav because I looked a lot like Jerry Mathers. 

At work I have a nickname. Some people here don't even know my real name. I was given the name "Radio" when I first hired on because I previously worked at a radio station. So everyone at work calls me that. 

We have tons of nicknames here. We have someone named Pork Chop, Pookie, Woody, Dopey, Lefty, Wide Load, Big Sexy, Lucious, Speedy, Hollywood, Humpty Dumpty, Jukebox and tons of others. Some of them are funny. Jukebox got his name because he always has plumbers crack. One day someone put a nickel in the crack and he got the name Jukebox. Humpty walked out of the break room one time and fell down in front of everyone and someone said Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and it just stuck.

Beardad decided he was taking a break from the internet a while back (probably over a year now) and pretty much never returned.  Hoping to see him back here again some day, he was a great guy.

I would have liked the name "Radio" but don't think I would have been cool with being call "Beav".  Oh man.

alldatndensum wrote:

...
Years later, I would become Big Chris.  I went to church with a family whose 11 year old son was also named Chris.  There was a little guy around 4 years old that loved both of us and followed either of us wherever we went.  If the little guy called for Chris, both of us would answer him just to irritate him.  One day after a few months of this, he stomped his little foot and pointed to each of us starting with me and said, "Fwom now on, you Big Kwis and you Widdle Kwis!"  To this kid, it stuck.  Soon, the other kids in church called me that.  The adults soon followed.  We left that church in 2000, but the people from there still call me Big Chris.  We ended up at another church with the same family in 2003 and that small boy was a teen in my youth group.  All of that church called me Big Chris, too.  So, when I started subbing in schools in 2009, I introduced myself that way. I introduced myself at Fall Creek (my last church) the same way to the kids.  
...

That is super cool!

Xid wrote:

I've never had a real nickname and giving yourself one just doesn't work.  I have a few people who call me by my initials, DC.  One of our elders at church calls me Big D.  One of our Realtor members calls me Man of Steel.  I have no idea why.

Black Rider wrote:

My name is Brent, aren't too many nicknames for that.

Yeah, some first names (like mine) just don't lend themselves well to a nickname.  I wouldn't even have had one at all if it weren't for people poking fun at me.  And nobody outside of the Army (and this message board) refers to me as "Staybrite"....and nobody but those twin girls ever called me "Gar-Bear".  So its not as if I have a commonly used nick-name either.
I do have an old friend named Haldyn (pronounced Hal-din) who tried for several years to get people to call him Nikki (like Nikki Sixx, I guess).  The only people who would call him that were new people he had met and actually told him that was his name.  It was a weird few years with some people calling him Haldyn and a handful calling him Nikki.  He doesn't hang out with any of that crowd anymore so nobody calls him Nikki.

My wife's name is Charlotte and when she was younger she didn't like the name...so late in elementary school she shortened it to Char.  She used that all of the rest of way through school and even for a few years after.  We got married a little over a year out of high school and moved across the country.  Around this time she decided to embrace her full name (as she had grown to like it) and now uses Charlotte exclusively.  Its funny on the occasion when she is talking to an old friend from high school or junior high because they will still refer to her as Char.  I never really liked the shortening of her name, and pretty much always called her Charlotte.

Didn't we already do the nickname thread ? 

Mine was started in 10th grade by my best bud. He knew me as "Jim Willis", so when he looked on a roll call sheet and seen "Willis, James", he said I had "2 first names and 2 last names", so he started calling me
"Willis James". Not only did it stick, but by my senior year everyone was calling me Willis James 

Oooo. I've had heaps of nicknames, but I rarely give them to other people. The longest standing one was La. As in "la-la-la-la" no explanation required. lol The weirdest one was "Stretch" because I used to compete in gymnastics and when we had a gym unit for PE, one boy noticed that on the trampoline I could go higher than anyone else and seemed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out. Didn't like that nickname. I was pretty glad when it got lost to history. Others? Wee, Weedy, Blondie, La-di-da! (as in a much hated variation of "La"), Howie Meeker (groan), and Jennifer...grr. There was a girl whose name actually was Jennifer who apparently looked a lot like me...hence everyone joyfully calling me Jennifer to grate on my nerves...grr. Also one guy in high school always called me Jodi Foster. I never knew why, but for two years the guy called me that.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Didn't we already do the nickname thread ? 

Mine was started in 10th grade by my best bud. He knew me as "Jim Willis", so when he looked on a roll call sheet and seen "Willis, James", he said I had "2 first names and 2 last names", so he started calling me
"Willis James". Not only did it stick, but by my senior year everyone was calling me Willis James 

I'm pretty sure we did a thread on "How did you come up with your user name"....but I don't know if we did one actual nicknames.  Besides in was in my list of 100 dumb questions so I'm asking it....you did catch the "Dumb" part right?  
That doesn't sound like a cool nickname....if you had a best friend named Arnold he could have run around always asking you "Whatchu talkin 'bout Willis?"  (sorry I couldn't resist).

Jen5 wrote:

Oooo. I've had heaps of nicknames, but I rarely give them to other people. The longest standing one was La. As in "la-la-la-la" no explanation required. lol The weirdest one was "Stretch" because I used to compete in gymnastics and when we had a gym unit for PE, one boy noticed that on the trampoline I could go higher than anyone else and seemed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out. Didn't like that nickname. I was pretty glad when it got lost to history. Others? Wee, Weedy, Blondie, La-di-da! (as in a much hated variation of "La"), Howie Meeker (groan), and Jennifer...grr. There was a girl whose name actually was Jennifer who apparently looked a lot like me...hence everyone joyfully calling me Jennifer to grate on my nerves...grr. Also one guy in high school always called me Jodi Foster. I never knew why, but for two years the guy called me that.

Some of those nicknames might fit many girls/ladies....but Howie Meeker....what?

Staybrite wrote:

Some of those nicknames might fit many girls/ladies....but Howie Meeker....what?

I know, right!? And yet that was my nickname for several years. Just a group of kids (boys) being weird I guess. I looked it up and he was a hockey player long before I was born and a sports commentator in the 80s. I was living in Canada at the time so I get why they'd know about some guy named Howie Meeker, but I never really understood the thinking there. I always wanted to play hockey, but my parents wouldn't let me???? If that's what it was, it was pretty lame if you ask me. lol

I don't have a nickname.

Since my full first name is Jeffery (spelled the correct way  ), my first nickname is Jeff.  While in marching band at the University of Houston when I had long hair and a goatee, I was nicknamed Jesus.  The tuba section of the band, known as the Tubads, had nicknames for each other including Tank, Ogre, Egg, Spanky, etc.

Jen5 wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

Some of those nicknames might fit many girls/ladies....but Howie Meeker....what?

I know, right!? And yet that was my nickname for several years. Just a group of kids (boys) being weird I guess. I looked it up and he was a hockey player long before I was born and a sports commentator in the 80s. I was living in Canada at the time so I get why they'd know about some guy named Howie Meeker, but I never really understood the thinking there. I always wanted to play hockey, but my parents wouldn't let me???? If that's what it was, it was pretty lame if you ask me. lol

That is lame...even for Canadians! 

rockerVu2 wrote:

I don't have a nickname.

Except some people (including me) call you Vonnie...which is a nickname. 

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Since my full first name is Jeffery (spelled the correct way  ), my first nickname is Jeff.  While in marching band at the University of Houston when I had long hair and a goatee, I was nicknamed Jesus.  The tuba section of the band, known as the Tubads, had nicknames for each other including Tank, Ogre, Egg, Spanky, etc.

Oh man Tank and Spanky are awesome nicknames...I would have totally loved using one of those...but Egg?    
Whatever you say Geoff.

Staybrite wrote:

That is lame...even for Canadians! 

Yeah, I always thought they should have let me play hockey  😁

Staybrite wrote:

rockerVu2 wrote:

I don't have a nickname.

Except some people (including me) call you Vonnie...which is a nickname. 

That's what I thought of as soon as I read your post Yvonne: Vonnie is definitely your nickname here. The difference is that yours is more a "term of endearment" -- a label that expresses our love and affection for you -- whereas the rest of our nicknames don't seem to fall into that wonderful category. They're more jokey than anything else...like Jeff's Ogre.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Since my full first name is Jeffery (spelled the correct way  ), my first nickname is Jeff.  While in marching band at the University of Houston when I had long hair and a goatee, I was nicknamed Jesus.  The tuba section of the band, known as the Tubads, had nicknames for each other including Tank, Ogre, Egg, Spanky, etc.

Oh man Tank and Spanky are awesome nicknames...I would have totally loved using one of those...but Egg?    
Whatever you say Geoff.

Was he a bald percussionist with a particular knack for playing the egg? Shakey, shakey, shakey.

Vonnie the the name my 3 sisters have given me when they needed something from me.
So Vonnie is my nickname.

Jen5 wrote:

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Since my full first name is Jeffery (spelled the correct way  ), my first nickname is Jeff.  While in marching band at the University of Houston when I had long hair and a goatee, I was nicknamed Jesus.  The tuba section of the band, known as the Tubads, had nicknames for each other including Tank, Ogre, Egg, Spanky, etc.

Oh man Tank and Spanky are awesome nicknames...I would have totally loved using one of those...but Egg?    
Whatever you say Geoff.

Was he a bald percussionist with a particular knack for playing the egg? Shakey, shakey, shakey.

No, he was pretty smart, which is why he was called Egg.  Ogre had his nickname carry over from his days of marching drum corps with the Madison Scouts.

Some people in high school tried to call me J-R, but it never really caught on. I've been known as André the Giant (despite my meagre stature) or Andalé Andalé Andalé (from Speedy Gonzalez). It's hard to shorten André, so anglophones usually pronounce it the English way and francophones pronounced it the French way. I've been temporarily called Andrew in France while visiting my great-uncle André.