Nicknames You Hated

[Griffin]

Nicknames serve two purposes: a mockery or a term of endearment. Even if the purpose is the later, you can still hate the nickname.

I bring this up because I have received a new nickname at my job. One of my coworkers had started to call me "Sparkles." He says that it fits my personality. Personally, I think he's a jerk.

A few days ago, a different coworker called me a "troll." Of course, he was referring to the term internet troll. However, my other coworkers, who are not so internet-savvy, took that as the monster troll. They thought it was befitting.

One genius decided to take the nickname Sparkles and combine it with troll. So now, I am Sparkles the Troll. Oh goody.

I am sure everyone was given a nickname they hated. What was yours? And what's the story behind it?

 

[saellys]

My family was vegetarian when I was a kid, and the other children at my homeschool co-op and other activities were pretty limited when it came to both acceptance and imagination, so I got saddled with Veggie Girl for quite some time. (This was approximately as irritating as actual grown-ups trying to tell me that the Bible instructed good Christians to eat meat.)

Otherwise, my nicknames usually involved my name and something that rhymed with it. Hannah Banana is the old standby, and Hannah Montana came into vogue a few years ago.

 

[Chilari]

Griffin, if you haven't already, confront people and ask them to stop calling you that if you don't like it. Mention to your boss or line manager that people are using an unpleasant nickname and you don't like it and have asked them to stop. If it continues it's harrassment and there are legal recourses you can take over it.

As for me, with a name like Alice it's very easy for people to come up with ways of making fun of me. Alice in Wonderland was a popular one. Then there were the songs. One person would sing a song called Alice the Camel at me every single day for a year on the bus home from school and I hated it and the more I asked her to stop the louder she'd sing it. It got to the point where others would join in and then I'd start crying ebcause I hated it and people would laugh at me crying. Turned out her Dad was my family doctor so once this was discovered my parents spoke to her Dad and it stopped.

By comparison, I didn't so much mind the "Who the f*** is Alice?" song so much. Still hate it though.

This is why I go by Ally in real life. Then enough people think my name is Alison that I don't have to worry about it. In fact one of my former housemates thought my name was Alison for almost a whole year while I was living with him.

 

[CupofJoe]

Griffin, if you haven't already, confront people and ask them to stop calling you that if you don't like it. Mention to your boss or line manager that people are using an unpleasant nickname and you don't like it and have asked them to stop. If it continues it's harrassment and there are legal recourses you can take over it.

Absolutely Right!
Personally I think that nicknames are a control thing. You change someone's name and you control how they are seen by the world. From my religious background, personal names are things of power and to use one against someone's wishes is very aggressive.
I've fairly lucky with nicknames. My mundane name shortens fairly nicely and had a very obvious rhyme with a TV character when I was growing up [and no I won't tell my “real” name]. My [older] sister still uses it - but she's allowed
I was called “Wojtek” before I was born [my parents worked with a lot of Poles and I apparently kicked like a bear in utero].

 

[Chilari]

Your name isn't Joe? I assumed it was Joe. Given that it isn't, and it rhymes with a TV character name, and you're in the UK, I'm gonna guess your real name is Lister Robby, in which case it's remarkable you're not scarred for life.

No point in my hiding my name since it's in my signature and the URL of my website.

 

[CupofJoe]

Lister Robby

Physically maybe...

 

[Chilari]

Physically maybe...

If you've got huge yellow dots all over your skin, no neck, massive eyes and a permanent grin, I think you need to see a doctor.

 

[Sparkie]

Personally I think that nicknames are a control thing. You change someone's name and you control how they are seen by the world.

I agree, Joe. Thanks for pointing that out. I had a friend who used to do that sort of thing to the other guys he knew for that pupose. One pudgy guy was 'Beefcake,' another guy was 'Nimzles,' it goes on on and on. He got a power kick out of it. He tried it once with me. Let's just say we 'took it outside,' and he never tried that again.

The one nickname I had that really irritated me was given to me by my mom, of all things. When I was a baby it took a long time for my hair to grow out, and my grandma thought I looked like Charlie Brown. So my mom took to using Lucy's nickname for Charlie Brown, 'Chuck,' as my nickname. I didn't care for it, I remember that. According to my mom, when I was about nine years old I asked her to stop calling me Chuck. I don't remember taking a stand on it, but she's never called me Chuck since.

 

[Reaver]

I've been called "F**king Pr**k" by a lot of my exes at least once a day. Does that count as a nickname?

 

[Androxine Vortex]

My real name is Andrew and I absolutely hate being called Drew. I can't stand it for some reason.

One time a few years back some friends and I went to a place called Ocean City back in Maryland for senior week. What that is is when almost the entire state of Maryland graduates you go rent a hotel with all your friends and stay there from the first Saturday of graduation to next Saturday. So thousands of fresh grads living in a small radius without supervision what could possibly go wrong. Well let's just say I have enough crazy stories I could make a book out of it. But one day our next door neighbor Seamus invited me to a huge party. So I got there and it was cool but the DJnever showed up. I told Seamus I had my music on my flash drive so they let me DJ for the party. No one there knew who I was so they named me "that dubstep kid" it was cool at first but then I couldn't go anywhere without people pointing me out and saying hey it's that dubstep kid. Yeah it was awesome I got to share my music and it was my little moment of fame but it got really annoying because no one used my real name the rest of the week.

 

[Griffin]

Griffin, if you haven't already, confront people and ask them to stop calling you that if you don't like it. Mention to your boss or line manager that people are using an unpleasant nickname and you don't like it and have asked them to stop. If it continues it's harrassment and there are legal recourses you can take over it.

I am actually not that bothered by it. I am not fond of it, but I know that it is in all good jest. Do not worry.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Killer... I never understood where that one came from. Maybe because I looked like Killer, the dark-haired soldier from Beetle Bailey? Well, for the dark hair anyway. Maybe back then people assumed I'd have a moustache when I'm older.

It's not that I hated it. I just found it odd that so many people who didn't know each other called me that.

 

[Reaver]

Killer... I never understood where that one came from. Maybe because I looked like Killer, the dark-haired soldier from Beetle Bailey? Well, for the dark hair anyway. Maybe back then people assumed I'd have a moustache when I'm older.

It's not that I hated it. I just found it odd that so many people who didn't know each other called me that.

Can I call you Legendary One and/or The Legendary One?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I can't complain about that one. It's accurate. I really am a legend in one place in particular:

(1:59)

 

[Reaver]

I can't complain about that one. It's accurate. I really am a legend in one place in particular:

You're a legend here too man.

 

[SunnyE]

Griffin, if you haven't already, confront people and ask them to stop calling you that if you don't like it. Mention to your boss or line manager that people are using an unpleasant nickname and you don't like it and have asked them to stop. If it continues it's harrassment and there are legal recourses you can take over it.

I completely agree! That's ridiculous for adults to behave that way. It's hostile and unacceptable.

As for me, my name is Sunny. So I got everything under the sun (haha, yeah, like that) that had to do with my name: Moony, Gloomy, Cloudy, Black Cloud (that one from a middle school science teacher who never referred to me as anything but; complete jerk, but I felt better knowing everyone teased him behind his back because during the whole section on earthquakes, he kept saying, "San Franfrisco"). I also got endless: Hey, it's raining, go outside and make the sun shine; hey, it's hot, why don't you leave; that kind of stuff. People can be mean. Luckily, they generally outgrow it by adulthood. Unless they work where you do. :/

 

[The Tourist]

It was my given name I hated.

"Back in the day" bikers were given a nickname, which I still use now. It was the name I thought I had earned. For several decades, that name was on my drivers license as a K/C/A. That is, 'known in the community as.'

When they mandated that the name on your license must be the same as on your birth certificate, I fought it. I went right to the head of our state DOT. Since this foolish in-house rule negated my credit cards, my business license, my marrige license, plus now listed my nickname on police computers as an 'alias,' she agreed and authorized my nickname as my official, legal name.

Now, I'm sure many of you are asking yourselves, "So what, he got forced into using his birth name."

Other than a condition not of my choosing, imagine yourself on the Interstate on a sunny afternoon ride. A Trooper pulls you over for a routine beef. There you sit on a custom Harley, clearly an old world biker. The database lists an alias. Then wowie kazowie, the biker has a concealed carry permit!

How long do you think a fella like that will be sitting handcuffed in the back of a squad-rod until the mess is cleared up? I'm guessing an hour. Better to be ship-shape, street legal and well documented before the roadside interview begins.

(Last riding season when I just got my permit, I did get pulled over. I put my hands up over my head. I had 'floated' through a stop sign in my neighborhood, and even police were sketchy on new procedures. Who wants to get shot for a "rolling stop"?)