The Subject is Nicknames

One of my uncles gave all us kids nicknames when we were little. The only one that really stuck was my half-brother, Bo. My nickname was Pete, but only my uncle called me that. I guess I inherited that trait from him because all my life I have been giving different people nicknames. Some stuck, some didn’t.


The thing about nicknames is that they’re not always flattering, or you might get one in an unusual way. A guy I knew as a kid was called Crip because he only had one arm. Another guy was called Peg because he only had one leg. Very non-PC nicknames. As for me, the one that caused me the most grief was not nearly as hurtful, but it started when a friend was behind me in the school picture line in the 6th or 7th grade and overheard the photographer say, “Come on Pieface, smile.” He was trying to get me to smile, but waiting just outside the door was Allen McNabb, and he started howling. So from then on, I was Pieface or sometimes just Pie. Luckily, it didn’t catch on with too many people.

Along those same lines, Doug Christian was called Albert, which was short for Fat Albert. If you could see me know, you would know God has gotten me back for that one.

During my Air Force years, I had the same nickname no matter where I went. I bet you can’t guess what it was. Yep, Elvis. I guess that’s what you would call a natural nickname. As for me, I went through a phase in the Air Force where I hung the name Bob after everybody’s name, including females; Joe-Bob, Bill-Bob, even Mary-Bob, and there were even a couple of Bob-Bobs. I sort of made them all southern.

This habit naturally passed on to my family. Sue, she prefers Susan, cringes when I call her Suzie. Doug was Pondah when he was little because he couldn’t say Partner, which was what I originally called him. Amy was Ames or Amesarie since her full name is Amy Marie. Michael was Mick. Sue’s mom didn’t like shortened names so she didn’t want me calling him Mike. Christopher was Cripper because when he was little he couldn’t pronounce his own name. Sarah has always been girlfriend.

And I can call any of them baby at any time; even Doug who is 38.

As for the grand kids, only 3 have nicknames. Sean is Boy-o, Owen is O-bo and Logan is Doodah. Like their parents, I can also call any of the grandkids baby or sweetie at any time.