”The
harder I work the better my luck seems to be.”
~Thomas Jefferson
My number 2 son says I have more names than a rapper.
It all started with my fourth grade teacher,
Mrs. Elam, at Cleminson School in Temple City. She called me Giggling Gertie and embroidered a
smiling Gertie onto my embroidery sampler project. When we moved to Covina, my
school nickname became plain Giggles.
A lot more kids at Charter Oak Elementary knew me by Giggles than I knew by
name.
In
high school, my mother was constantly rhyming everything, so I became Diana Banana, Banana, Banana-Butt, or
plain BN. Alex Kristofka, my neighbor,
never shouted anything but Diana Banana at me. Banana-Butt is strictly reserved
for Bettina-Butt. Most people called me Banana, because I have a-peel. Get it?
Pam’s family always called me Banana
Caboose or Caboose because it
was close to my maiden name, Cobos. I even utilized my nickname in my sophomore
presidential campaign with the slogan, “Vote Diana for Top Banana.” I worked my
brand and won!
I
think you get a lot of nicknames if your given name is three or more syllables.
Some people just can’t handle more than one syllable at a time. That means I’ve
been called both Di and D. Those got morphed into Big D, Lady D and Lady Di. I like being associated with
the good-hearted former Lady Diana Spencer who later became a Princess. I skipped princess status to become Queen of Outer Space. One year, I even wrote down Queen as my occupation on my kids’ Emergency card at Hawthorne
Elementary. I didn't think the office ladies would notice, but they did and made mention of it a time or two.
People always confuse the names Diane and Diana. This is irritating for both of us. One time it created a problem when I took a temp job working with a Diane at a Colorado Springs cemetery. People would call and ask for the wrong Diane/a, so they suggested I use a nickname. Shorten my name to Di? Clients might be reminded of dying; not a good choice. How about my initials? D.C. didn’t work either. They stand for Death Certificate. Finally, they suggested using my middle name. Well, my middle name is Cleil. You are supposed to enunciate each letter sound in my name, but no one in the office could say that final “L”so they called me Cleo.
Because
I was a competitive swimmer, I became Diana Dolphin. I used Dolphin as my Camp name and in every situation
where I work with kids outside of a regular classroom. At my current job as an
after school program leader, I am Miss
Dolphin. And because Diana was the goddess of the moon, I chose as both my
e-mail name and my brush name dolphinmoon.
I had hoped to establish myselfin the teaching profession as an innovative thinker with the name and logo Mrs. Bubbletree. I even wrote a little poem and put it on a profile brochure with the byline, "Grounded in standards & bubbling
with ideas." People either love the name and remark on its creativity or they say that is childish and unbecoming of a serious professional.
Every time I make a new group of friends, I get a new nickname. Besides my long term names, like Banana and Giggles, I am also part of the Bitchen' Chicks (I'm number four, B4). I am also La Giggles, Flower Girl, Sugar Toes, LL, Thumper, the combo Mama/Sister/Friend, COBOS, and my grandma name, Mimi.
One time I met a person who felt that nicknames were insulting. I think nicknames are endearing. They mean that someone really understands you in a certain way and makes a pet name for you as an intimate reminder of your bond. What's your favorite nickname?
