Diminutives & Nicknames

[top_guy_atl]

To most of the world, I'm known as Bill. Very few will try to get away with calling me William. Even fewer will try to call me Billy. If they can get away with that, know they're special.

[MikeyGMin]

The sibilant "S".. always reminds me of 'Angels in America', right? Never Louis, but Lou. I get it, though... I went by Jay all through college. Nobody ever knew my name was Jason. lol

It's odd how names imprint on us throughout our lives and we make associations. One of the sexiest men I've ever known was named Jason.

 

Jay is cool, but Jason is a beautiful name. You should embrace it.

[bostonman]

It's odd how names imprint on us throughout our lives and we make associations.

 

That's very true, and probably a valid subject for a whole thread by itself.

 

I definitely feel that names often have a degree of sexiness (or not) in them - and of course many times that may be because of associations we make with those names. I've always thought that Kevin is a very hot name, probably partly because I knew some very sexy guys by that name growing up. But there are a lot of names on my "hot" list lol. (And I do confess that "Mike" is one of them lol.)

[Mo Mason]

It's odd how names imprint on us throughout our lives and we make associations. One of the sexiest men I've ever known was named Jason.

 

Jay is cool, but Jason is a beautiful name. You should embrace it.

That's kind of you. Thank you. For me, that sexy name tends to be Justin. I don't think I've ever met or seen a man named Justin who wasn't gorgeous.

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

My sister always liked the way my initials spelled "Sam." She wanted to use our father's first name as her son's middle name. She was care that the initials wouldn't have any negative connotation, and finally settled on Jackson Andrew Collins, so his initials are also a possible spelling of a shortened first name.

[bostonman]

That's kind of you. Thank you. For me, that sexy name tends to be Justin. I don't think I've ever met or seen a man named Justin who wasn't gorgeous.

 

I like Justin, and have known several guys by that name, but somehow I tend to associate the name with Randy Harrison's character on Queer As Folk lol. (And that's a good example, for me at least, of a sexy Justin. )

 

There were 3 boys (2 in the neighborhood, one a school friend) who contributed to my first bits of gay sexual awakening - Brendan, Tim, and Jay. All 3 of those names hold a special place for me. Of the 3, the name "Tim" tends to affect me the most, but I mentioned all this because of the name "Jay."

[TruHart1]

I'm sorry to veer off topic (considering it's never done:D), but in looking up info on Dickon/Tom Hopper, I found out he was the second actor to play Dickon. The 1st was incredibly hunky too, and if Tom wasn't so uber-hunky himself, this first guy, Freddie Stroma, would have outclassed the average successor. Oh and Freddie also played Cormac McLaggan in tbe Harry Potter films. While many of the guys in them have become hunky, he was hunky to start with. And he has brains. He has a degree (1st class second if anyone is familiar with the British system) in Neurosciences.

 

 

Here's an article with many more pictures and similar gifs of Freddie in case anyone might be slightly interested.

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/why-freddie-stroma-is-officially-the-hottest-former-quidditc?utm_term=.bw5NXMapMy#.whOq0XZQXV

 

Gman

It's really not fair how incredibly good looking both these guys are and that #1 both these guys are British and #2 that Tom Hopper is married meaning I don't have a very good chance of dating either one of them.

 

 

However I just heard today that Chris Pratt was breaking up with his wife Anna Faris. He's single now, and we both live on the West Coast. I'm thinking I have a shot if I can come up with a cute diminutive of my 1st name. (Whoosh-there I managed to make the post relevant to the thread:p)

 

 

 

Gman

 

PS-Do y'all think he stuffs his shorts with tissues or socks prior to taking selfies?

I have no idea if that is all Mr. Pratt but I'll be happy to volunteer to go check it out for you Gman!!!

 

Sorry, more OT but Freddie Stroma starred as H.G. Wells in the ill-fated ABC TV show Time After Time, (based on the 1979 novel by Karl Alexander and the 1979 hit movie starring Malcolm McDowell & Mary Steenburgen) which was canceled due to dismal ratings after airing only 4 episodes in March of this year! 7 other episodes remain in the can, not scheduled to ever be shown.

 

Sad, because I rather enjoyed Stroma as the rather straight-laced Herbert George and Josh Bowman as a very hot-looking Jack the Ripper!

http://televisionpromos.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Time-After-Time-ABC-TV-series-hero-1368x506.jpg

 

BTW, @Gar1eth, Stroma is also married - to actress Johanna Braddy who has been a regular on Quantico since its beginning! They met working on the Hulu streamed series UnReal and married in 2016!

 

I know, too late but to stay somewhat on topic, I wonder if Freddie Stroma's first name is actually Frederick and whether Josh Bowman's close friends call him Joshie?!!

 

TruHart1

[GLEE]

It's really not fair how incredibly good looking both these guys are and that #1 both these guys are British and #2 that Tom Hopper is married meaning I don't have a very good chance of dating either one of them.

 

 

However I just heard today that Chris Pratt was breaking up with his wife Anna Faris. He's single now, and we both live on the West Coast. I'm thinking I have a shot if I can come up with a cute diminutive of my 1st name. (Whoosh-there I managed to make the post relevant to the thread:p)

 

 

 

Gman

 

PS-Do y'all think he stuffs his shorts with tissues or socks prior to taking selfies?

 

The fact he separated from Anna is just ... unbelievable.... they're such a great couple...

[Epigonos]

Since I started this tread I will come up with a personal fact. My first name is Don not Donald. When my parents were deciding on a name for me my father wanted Donald. My mother absolutely refused and explained that she always associated Donald with Donald Duck and she didn't want to stick me with that. I absolutely hate the name Donny and anybody who uses it is quickly corrected.

 

Now with that out of the way my last name is also a problem. It is not a terribly uncommon name but it has both an English and German spelling. The English version is by far the most common and starts with the letter "C" while the German version starts with the letter "K". Mine is of course is the German version. Thus when I give my last name to someone in a doctors office, government office or any other formal office situation I ALWAYS spell it first before pronouncing it.

[gallahadesquire]

I remember from my German teacher of three years:

 

"Sie" isn't so much formal as the default second person. One uses it for one's colleagues. acquaintances, and just about anyone who isn't either family and/or in bed with you.

 

"Du" is remarkable familiar. "Shewwif! Oh, Du! DU!" in Blazing Saddles is a fine example thereof. I don't remember if she was Austrian or German, only that she's Teutonic.

 

So that brings us to a problem and solution.

 

Say the CEO of an automobile company ... you know, a little like Volkswagen /

Porsche / Audi / Bentley ... say he's on the assembly floor and wants know what a workman is doing. "Sie" is woefully inadequate. as he is beneath you, and "Du", well ... just doesn't cut it, either.

 

So what does Herr Obergeschäftsführer do? He says, "Was machts Er?" ... "What is he making?" Idiomatic, but it works.

 

My name is short and one syllable too. It does have a ready nickname which is longer than my actual name. It might have been used when I was an infant. Other than that it's almost never been used except long ago by a guy I had a very strange relationship with. I also have a rhyming nickname that my older brother used to call me occasionally when I was little (It's not even dirty. My brother loves me.) But it fell out of use quickly

 

But that reminds me of when I was in second or third grade. We had a reading circle. Sometimes the teacher went by last name alphabetical order to decide who was to read 1st, and sometimes she would change it up and go by 1st or middle name. My 1st name letter is in the middle of the alphabet, and the 1st letters of my middle name and last name are towards the end. I was miffed that someone named Robert could go by Bob and get to answer near the front. I went home and asked my Mom whether there were any nicknames for any of my names which would put me nearer the front of the alphabet. Unfortunately there weren't.

 

 

 

 

 

It's 'Sie/Sie' (sing/pl) for the formal and 'du/ihr' for the informal. I took 3-1/2 years of German in college but have only been to Europe once. So I don't have a good cultural-knowledge sense of the use. Some regions are stricter than others, but I'm betting whom you use which form with is probably similar to Spanish. But as one example, I hear Austria, or at the very least Vienna, is traditionally very formal. I've heard that people who have worked together for years who are at the same level will often still use the Sie form with each other.

 

 

 

 

Gman

[alkan]

In the areas around the east of London, it was, and still may be, the custom between friends and workmates to shorten names as much as possible. As my full first name has only three letters, the version they came up with for me was "E". At that time, this was the name of a well-known brand of beer. Nowadays of course, it would have different associations.

[Chad Constantine]

Since I started this tread I will come up with a personal fact. My first name is Don not Donald. When my parents were deciding on a name for me my father wanted Donald. My mother absolutely refused and explained that she always associated Donald with Donald Duck and she didn't want to stick me with that. I absolutely hate the name Donny and anybody who uses it is quickly corrected.

 

Now with that out of the way my last name is also a problem. It is not a terribly uncommon name but it has both an English and German spelling. The English version is by far the most common and starts with the letter "C" while the German version starts with the letter "K". Mine is of course is the German version. Thus when I give my last name to someone in a doctors office, government office or any other formal office situation I ALWAYS spell it first before pronouncing it.

 

I am surprised they did not think of the name Donovan. Too bad your last name isnt Krieg. Don Kreig your nickname could have been Mr. War

http://i.imgur.com/apyUKRN.jpg

[+ FreshFluff]

Rather than hijacking another thread regarding this matter I decided to start a separate one. Please bear with me regarding a matter that has annoyed me for years. Diminutives and nicknames can frequently be a problem. I have had to correct people all my life regarding my REAL first name. My real name is NOT Robert but I’m going to use it as my example. Formal name is Robert, diminutive is often Robby/Bobby, and nickname is traditionally Bob but nowadays frequently Rob. My parents chose to legally name me Bob. I’ve spent a life time correcting teachers, government officials and just about everybody else that my REAL first name is not Robert; it is Bob. I don’t much like being call Robert and I absolutely loathe being called Robby/Bobby (it’s so terribly, terribly cute)

 

OK, I promise to stop, Chucky.

[bostonman]

Two of my male students have "custom" nicknames they prefer - one of them is truly a diminutive of his first name (resulting in the name of a common alcoholic beverage) and the other uses a diminutive of his LAST name (resulting in the name of a common object). For some reason, over the 4 years I've had them as students, I've always referred to the first one by his nickname, but the other by his real first name (or, actually, the common nickname for his first name). Luckily, student #2 doesn't seem to mind.

[+ WilliamM]

I like my real first name Alan and also Al, but not Alzie.

[Guy Fawkes]

One of the most interesting people I ever met was Bob Hope when he would show up at my University to rehearse his famous USO shows; He wasn't gentle when correcting people that had the audacity to call him Robert. You needed to prepare to run if thought about calling him Leslie.

 

Rather than hijacking another thread regarding this matter I decided to start a separate one. Please bear with me regarding a matter that has annoyed me for years. Diminutives and nicknames can frequently be a problem. I have had to correct people all my life regarding my REAL first name. My real name is NOT Robert but I’m going to use it as my example. Formal name is Robert, diminutive is often Robby/Bobby, and nickname is traditionally Bob but nowadays frequently Rob. My parents chose to legally name me Bob. I’ve spent a life time correcting teachers, government officials and just about everybody else that my REAL first name is not Robert; it is Bob. I don’t much like being call Robert and I absolutely loathe being called Robby/Bobby (it’s so terribly, terribly cute)

[Epigonos]

Like WilliamM I like my real and legal first name, Don. It is short and nowadays it is quite uncommon.

[+ tassojunior]

My dad snuck down to the records bureau a few weeks after my birth and filed an amendment to my birth certificate saying it was wrong and I was actually named after my grandfather (who was coming to visit). He told no one but everyone started calling me my grandfather and father's nickname ...."tasso". In law school I had to get a passport for a scholarship abroad and when I ordered my birth certificate it came back with the never-seen-before amendment. *panic*. Fortunately the former Sec of State was my scholarship sponsor and made one call and my passport arrived in a few days in "my name".

[bostonman]

One of the most interesting people I ever met was Bob Hope when he would show up at my University to rehearse his famous USO shows; He wasn't gentle when correcting people that had the audacity to call him Robert. You needed to prepare to run if thought about calling him Leslie.

 

On the other hand, I seem to know a lot of guys these days who prefer James instead of Jim. (Another student of mine is one of them, as a matter of fact.) I had a friend in college that I had a crush on who went by Jim, and I seem to recall didn't like James at all. But worse was when I would tease him and call him Jimmy, which he hated, lol. But all's fair in lust and war, I suppose - he knew how to tease me back. See, he was maybe 6'3" or so and I'm 5'6", and he used to like to taunt me by saying that if I really wanted him I'd have to jump for it. :-) (This was also right around the time that Van Halen's "Jump" was a hit song. Go figure...)

[Guy Fawkes]

And is easy to sign in ASL!

Handspelling my name is actually my name sign as it's so fast.

 

Like WilliamM I like my real and legal first name, Don. It is short and nowadays it is quite uncommon.

[+ WilliamM]

One of the most interesting people I ever met was Bob Hope when he would show up at my University to rehearse his famous USO shows; He wasn't gentle when correcting people that had the audacity to call him Robert. You needed to prepare to run if thought about calling him Leslie.

 

By Christmas 1968, Bob Hope was no longer popular in his Vietnam tours. He, Martha Raye and George Jessel were hawks on the war, while most of the enlisted men (like me) were draftees. Older men and woman likely knew his real name was Leslie.

 

I knew myself shortly after.

 

Jessel was far,far worse, at least Bob Hope was quite friendly. Jessel sang Al Jolson songs to a mostly black audience. Songs were "Swanee" and ""Rockabye Your Baby to a Dixie Melody." Over 50 years later, I am still shocked

Edited November 15, 2019 by WilliamM

[+ quoththeraven]

My former sister-in-law's legal name is Betty. She was forever having to correct teachers who assumed that was short for Elizabeth.

[+ tassojunior]

and what is it about people who assume you have to have a middle name? My Czech friend doesn't have one and half the time when I make airline reservations for him they insist on a middle name and I have to explain not everyone has one. A couple times I've had to speak to a supervisor. Some people are name poor. And I realize there are many who are "name rich" and not sure how they handle it.

[Chad Constantine]

My former sister-in-law's legal name is Betty. She was forever having to correct teachers who assumed that was short for Elizabeth.

 

I would of thought that Betty would have been the shorten form of Beatrice or Bettylou. I would have thought Beth or Lizz would be the shorten form of Elizabeth.

[+ honcho]

By Christmas 1968, Bob Hope was no longer popular in his Vietnam tours. He, Martha Raye and George Jessel were hawks on the war, while most of the enlisted men (like me) were draftees. Older men and woman likely knew his real name was Leslie.

 

I knew myself shortly after.

 

Jessel was far,far worse, at least Bob Hope was quite friendly. Jessel sang Al Jolson songs to a mostly black audience. Songs were "Swanee" and ""Rockabye Your Baby to a Dixie Melody." Over 50 years later, I am still shocked

 

A couple of years after Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk were killed, the National Association of Broadcasters conference was held

at the *George Moscone Center* in San Francisco. My father managed a television station in a medium market, got tickets for the Awards ceremony, and I attended as his guest.

 

Bob Hope was the master of ceremonies; he told *Fag Jokes*.

 

It seriously crossed my mind to call him out on it and make a public scene ...