I was watching TV and there was some news about some mob guys arrested, killed, etc. And what stupid nicknames they have! So I started thinking about nicknames I hear all the time around me. You know, the people that you know. Why do people tend to "glue" animal nicknames to their friends? Or enemies. I mean there is Mile Komarac (pronounced Mille Komaratz, meaning Mille, which is already short from a name Milovan or Milorad, "Komarac" meaning a “mosquito”. Why the hell would somebody call somebody a mosquito?! And how can one accept that stupid nickname?! Then there is Kornjača (pronounced Kornyatcha, meaning “Turtle”)! You see, I don't even know those men's first names, nor their last names, they're just...whatever the nickname they have. Then there is “Gusak” (pronounced “ggoussak”, meaning “goose”/the male one!).
And then “Švaba” (pronounced “Schwaba”, which is/was actually a name for the domestic Germans here in my part of Serbia. There were a lot of Germans here before and during WW2, but they left to Germany with the German army in 1945. The term remains to this day). Then there is “Kutlača” (pronounced “Koutlatcha”, meaning a “spoon”). Then “Krofna” (pronounced “Krophna”, meaning “doughnut/donut”; the guy is some kind of a baker, so it’s kind of understandable). But, what about “Pacov” (pronounce “Patzov”, meaning “Rat”). Then… You get the picture. There are nicknames derived from your first or last name. Take mine for example, “Goran”, in short it’s common “Goki” (pronounced “Gokki”, no meaning), or “Gojle” (pronounced “Goyle”, no meaning), but namely it’s just “Goran”. I like that! Just the real name. I guess it’s ok to some people to earn nicknames. My dad’s nickname is “Šuki” (pronounced “Schoocky”, no meaning) and I hate it. It’s stupid! But he calls himself that way when meeting new people. Don’t know why. It’s just some variation of the nickname my grandfather had.

PS There is "Goran" in Sweden too! It's written "Göran", pronounced "Goeran" I guess. But, in my case it's simply "Goran". Oh! I've just remembered the story I heard about the alleged origin of my name! There is a term "gora" in Serbian, which means a "small hill". The synonym in Serbian would be "brdo" (pronounced "Burdo"). But, let's get back to "gora". From the term "gora" originated the term "gorani" with two meanings: 1. The ones living on, near mountains, and 2. the ones that plant trees. So, I heard somewhere that's how my name originated.
Oh, yes! As for the last names... There is also an interesting story. Most of the last names here on Balkans have originated from the first names. Don't know exactly how the story goes, but it's something like if your last name was "Goranić" (or any possible variation of it; Goranov, Goranovski, etc.) for example, then there is a strong possibility that somebody in your family had a name "Goran".

Wow, I didn't know I was going to talk about that!

So, do you have any stupid nicknames nearby? Or is it just my part of the world?! And what about the origin of your name(s)?

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"If you're on a path that's beaten, it's not your path." Joseph Campbell

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

"All that is impossible remains to be achieved."
Jules Verne

www.stratcollector.com

nicknames really suck.i know this guy whose nick is 'odnako' which means a dog and he's really proud....

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***God made men and men made guitar***

I embrace my nicknames, rather than run away from them.

Tex-given to me by a group of guys from New York & New Jersey during a training class I attended fifteen years ago. I never realized how strong my accent was until I was around that group for a week. I also never realized that people in other parts of the country didn’t routinely wear boots. It has stuck the longest, and people often call me that for one reason or another.

Pancho-given to me by my drummer, for two reasons. First, I started calling him “Lefty” since he is a southpaw; he responded by calling me pancho, as in the song “Pancho & Lefty”. That has become our nom de guerre when we are producing a recording together (“Produced by Pancho & Lefty”).
Second, I have a pancho/sarape that I occasionally wear in the most bitter cold of our North Central Texas winter (yes, it does get cold here, just not as long of a duration). People (wife included) often laugh, until they notice that I am nice and toasty while they’re shivering. I then offer to rent them my pancho for a small fee of $100 per hour.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I knew a guy (he wasn't all there in the head) called "stud" because friends had found him in a field "with" a horse. He actually had it tattoo'ed on his forearm.

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the vacuum store is a lot like the guitar store. but they do not attract the same clientele as the guitar store, cause if they did, the vacuum store would be loaded with a bunch of broke guys who just wanted to run the new vacuums.

little Petey, big Petey, joey bag a donuts, regular Petey, jimmy 2 shoes, irregular Petey, Tommy 2 times, ortho Petey, muscles Marinara, re Petey,
those kind of nick names?

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Okie.......... Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

i hate my nickname....hey rile's hows it goin?! ugghh, i think i just hate my name

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riley

Lawyer in court to a gangster: Are you Jimmy the One Eyed?
Gangster: Yeah - that's right!
Lawyer: And why do they call you Jimmy the One Eyed?
Gangster: Because there's only one "I" in Jimmy!

BTW I got called snake when I first started work because I was really skinny. Nobody calls me that now

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Steve

Where I grew up (NYC), your nickname was given to you due to either a physical feature of yours and/or someone's conception of your usual state of mind. It was also understood that some distortion of your name would always be a secondary nickname.

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You dig?

'Never really had one. 'Sometimes envied people who have hip ones.

Sometimes not.

'Guess it's good that given name is rather liked.

I'm called "tiny elvis" because of my sideburns when i was really little.

Glad to say I've never really had a nickname. At school I was sometimes called Kez, which is a dull thing people sometimes do with names in my part of the world. (Ceri has a hard "C" so is pronounced Kerry, for those as haven't seen me mention it half a dozen times before.) But it never really stuck.

Where I am nicknames usually arrive during school years and people have to live with them evermore, like 'em or not.

There was a guy in my class whose surname was McGrain, and that somehow transmogrified into Groin-Strain. He just had to get used to that and I expect is known by it to this day.

There was another guy called Chris Little, and on a list or something he once wrote himself down as CLittle. On this family-friendly website I can't tell you exactly what that turned into, but soon even the teachers called him by that rude nickname.

There was also a girl called Carol Hunting. You can guess what we did with that. Shame: nice girl...

Cheers - C

Mine is my username I have it on my car licence plate too

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I have been called alot of names that haven't stuck for example: Hafurinn (the male goat) and Bin Laden, because of a long chin beard I had some time ago. Sóða-Nonninn (the dirty Nonni) a nick that I used on my Myspace site that stuck for some time. My dad somtimes used to call me Johnny Boy.

There is one nickname that is brought up from time to time, Nonninn (The Nonni).

There is one guy at work that is called Bjössi Bin Laden (because of a striking ressemblance) who is also sometimes called bóndi (farmer).

(BTW this is my "Number of the beast" post (nr. 666) )

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Deyr fé
Deyja frændr
Deyr sjálfr ið sama
En orðstír
Deyr aldregi
Hveim er sér góðan getr

That means your next one will be 667 - the neighbor of the beast.

Much more comfortable.

Cheers - C