Dictionary.com just informed me that 'nickname' goes back into the 14th century and has its roots in Old English for 'additional name.' Isn't that special?!! Well, for some reason today I feel like pontificating on nicknames.'Reds' is frequently used for a person who is a red-head. Oh...did you ever notice that most redheads are really orange heads in the spectrum of colors?!! I'm figuring just plain laziness is the reason...fewer syllables and all that.
Of course, 'Bob' and 'Rob' are the naturally lazy way to introduce 'Robert' whoever he is. I never understood why guys with that name insist on being called 'Robert.' It seems a bit to formal for my taste, but works well for Mom when she's about to chew one out for some perceived personality fault. Oh, and HOWCOME 'Bobby' is for little kids and athletes...and occasionally in a somewhat pejorative fashion for Robert E. Lee?!!
'General' is one I've gotten from some guys who have observed me commanding victorious armies in Civil War Generals 2 down in the basement of Stone Walled Presbyterian Church. One ex-Marine gave me the honorable sobriquet of 'Gunny'...short for Gunnery Sergeant in The Corps, the guy who is usually running things on a practical basis while the officers divvy up commands.
Civil War Generals were renowned for nicknames: 'Stonewall' Jackson was also known as 'Deacon Tom' for his Presbyterian church work, 'Tom Fool' by his VMI students because of his over-seriousness and dedication to repeating lectures, 'Old Blue Light' for his piercing eyes, and 'Old Jack' by his men who groused about his severity by loved and respected him for how he whipped them into top fighting units.
Robert E. Lee was early known as the 'King of Spades' for his propensity for having troops properly entrench and 'Granny' because of his age/white hair/early conservative nature.
And of course, good old George Armstrong Custer was 'Yellow Hair' to the Sioux who annihilated him and his Seventh Cavalry. George Gordon Meade was 'Goggle Eyed Snapping Turtle' due to his temper. William Tecumseh Sherman was 'Uncle Billy' to his Union troops. Winfield Scott, whose 'Anaconda Plan' eventually helped win the Civil War for the North, was 'Old Fuss and Feathers.'
I could go on, but I feel like doing battle on my computer screen so I can 'march to the sound of battle.'
Got nickname of your own?
No comments:
Post a Comment