Just musing......

Do you have a nickname? I bet you refer to someone, some place or thing by a nickname everyday. I call my automobile Sassy. Our other car is called AMR (Ammer) which stands for Arrest Me Red.  In it's day it was a fast, sporty, red car that was on every officers radar to follow, stop or ticket.  We give monikers, or dub, give as a handle, label, use pet names or tag to everything. Since the 1400's in Middle English, nicknames have been with us, used by us, referred to by us. Babyface Nelson, Bloody Mary, Ivan the Terrible, Butterfingers Moran, Snookie, Emerald City, the Rose City, the Big Apple.  If you've ever watched a episode of Lost, you'll hear Sawyer (that hunky bad boy) throw out nickname titles willy nilly.

We give nicknames to our wee babies; snookums, punkin (with a "n"), bugs, sweetie. We give nicknames to our partners; hot stuff, babe, honey. We give or have been given nicknames due to our size, hair color or personality; slim, pee wee, fats, blondie, ginger, whiz, scooter.  We use a person's initials when referring to them; BA, AR, KC, SAM, Dee. Some of these monikers are given as affectionate tags to be spoken only once in a while and some stick with us for life.

I've been called S.A.M. before I was born - yes, dad wanted a boy for his first child (sorry dad). Once when he and I were in a grocery store, when I was about 6 years old, a lady came up to us and chastised my father for calling me a boys name -- we giggled and walked hand and hand out the store (it was our little pet name). But, it stuck. If I ever heard my full given name, Sandra Aleda -- I knew I was in trouble. I remember doing that to my kids, too (sorry kids). My school teachers called me Sandy, people who don't know me call me Sandy thinking they've got the nickname for Sandra. Nope, not me. I often tease my husband that I married him because his last name started with a "M" and that would make my nickname official. S.A.M. Cool! Better than the nickname he was given as a child.

When my husband's family moved into a new neighborhood and meeting the kids from the block, they asked him what his name was. Bruce will do, he replied. So, from then on he was called Bruceldo.