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Nicknames & Petnames

C

christopher short

Birmingham Post
I don't mean names of your pets but what your family called you.

You can imagine with a surname like mine what I went through in school, I'll draw a veil over that.

In my early years I was known as "Everso" as in, I'm ever so hungry or I'm ever so tired or I'm ever so cold.

I was also called by my parents as "The Kid Himself" (I'd like to think that meant that they were slightly proud of me)

My early teenage years it was " In by Ten"
 
BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP. After those my mom called me Mary Helen, fairy, and I was known as peanuts within our little group when we were in our den down Lorraines old air raid shelter. Her nick name was lollipop. Jean.
 
My nickname ,because of my initials was "eggs" and i hated it then they shortened my name to "teddy" and i hated that even more but worse was when i was called "Edward" because i knew then that i was in trouble with a capital T, My younger sister was nicknamed "bobo" even today she gets miffed if called by that name
 
Lillabett often, and i remember a cousin who couldn't say Elizabeth, and somehow shortened it to Izit, liz of course and lizzy
 
My nickname as a child was Dad it was because i was always singing Dont you rock me daddy o by Lonnie Donnigan. It must have looked strange when adults were overheard asking for dad, then i walked in aged about 5. All the best formula t.
 
To my father l was Bab never babby....to my mom it was Brenda Bru, to my family and close friends l was and still am Bru, the story goes when l was brought home 10days old from Loveday Street....the boy next door wanted to know my name on being told it was Brenda he immediatley said oh! Brenda Bru and it stuck.....my brother also used to call me" blue bags" after those horrible n/blue nickers us girls always wore.....Brenda
 
I always had promblems waking in the morning, so Mom frequently called me Lazarus. (Lazarus was raised from the dead, remember) Mind you, she often called me Rastus too, I don't know what that was about! As a toddler, I was refered to, by my father, as the 'Chickelpunckler' ... I never much cared for that.
 
John Rastus is similar to a Maltese word meaning head so maybe she meant you were a sleepy head. I hope I am not getting this mixed up with another Maltese word though. Jean.
 
my younger sister marilyn was always known as "Dougle" after the magic roundabout dog because of her long blond hair, my dad was always known as "spudy" in the army, I was of course known as "Brummie".
paul
 
When still at school, I worked for Sheldon Industrial Cleaners on High Street, Bordesley at weekends on and off for three years (1964/67). Besides keeping the assembly lines at Longbridge rolling by removing excess paint, grease, and sealing wax from walls, pits and spray areas - along with scaling boilers - I was sent on four consecutive Saturdays and Sundays to help out in a wood yard somewhere in Acocks Green. There, with seven or eight workmates, I had to load, unload and shift timber of various lengths and weights (today a forklift truck would do it in a fraction of the time it took us then).
On one occasion, we had to stack enormous beams of a particularly heavy wood. Everything went well until our pile became chest-high, head-high and eventually six-and-a-half feet high. Being the tallest in the squad, I had to lift a beam up to my chin and, with my back to the pile, push each gigantic 'plank' up above my head and with perfect timing my colleague would shove our load onto the top of the pile. As the day progressed, my arms got more and more tired until - just as I was expected to thrust a beam with fully-extended arms above my head - I partially lost my grip and instead of uttering my intended "Hang on!", I yelled, " 'ang (gasp) 'ang". I was known as "Ang-ang" for the following two years. David
 
David, all that heavy lifting must have stretched your arms ....... are you sure they weren't calling you 'orang-orang' ???



 
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My eldest brother was called Spud - I presume due to our name being Taylor, which was reduced to Tatae. I was called Kate, but as I got older, got pregnant and hence fatter, I was called Charlie after Charles Laughton. I presume in time with all the daft laws about, there will soon be a nickname-ism.
 
hi there yes
people by the name was often called spud i dont know how it ever came about thou it was like the name white they called them chalkie
presuming being white
when we was kids our old man had a name for most of us mine was seed bebacuse i was a little kid for my age and in size
my other brother roy was called muse and one was called windy miller because of his breatheing problems one was called mexican pete one sister called fanny
by gas light because she never stopped talking the other sister was called crocvket the other one was called after the tea advert pg one was called
billy bunter because he never stopped eating he could and eat an whole loaf of bread to himself named after the sunday afternoon series
of billy bunter at grey friars school and the oldest one was called lord snooty because he spoke posh
bnest wishes astonion
 
Yes indeed, Astonian. There are several British surnames which automatically give their owners a nickname. You have quoted one of the best known, White, Chalky White. Another that comes to mind is Clark/Clarke, Nobby Clark/Clarke and anyone with any combination of Mc or Mac is often known immediately as Jock.
But I have always associated Spud with the surname Murphy. And I believe this is a very cruel reference to a disaster which struck the Emerald Isle between 1845 and 1852: the Irish Potato Famine. During those seven years, the population of Ireland decreased by between 20% and 25%; it is thought that 1 million people died and approximately the same number emigrated. Many found their way to Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester where one of the most popular Irish surnames, Murphy, was tied to the main cause of the famine, a drastic shortage of the potato due to a blight, hence "Spud". Hoping you are keeping well, David
 
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hi db84124
many thanks for putting that extra bit in i had completely forgotton about the irish name being connected to it and of the reasons as to how it came about
i dont think many people have not heard this expression with irish lads
once again db my sincere thanks for putting your thread on emediatly to tell us and more inportanant reminding me take care
by the way i do have irish family connection in one way or another and in freindships
best wishes astonion
 
We had a Nigerian friend in the 70's who was nicknamed "CHALKIE". He took no offence to this, in fact I think it rather pleased him. The PC police would be after us these days.

My Father's friend's surname was Wright and he was known as "SHINER"
 
I was called sparrow because i had thin ankles .....my sister was called wendy fenders and my two younger sisters were called .inky pink and hollow legs ...dont ask me why .
 
christopher short said:
..... We had a Nigerian friend in the 70's who was nicknamed "CHALKIE" ...... .
Click to expand...

Between late 1968 and mid-1971, I worked in an accountants' office on Smallbrook Ringway (as it was then). A fellow articled clerk of Indian extraction had fled with his family from Uganda when Amin took control of the country in January 1971.
We quickly became great friends and I started to call him affectionately "Darkie"; his immediate retaliation was to call me - quite rightly - "Pinky". With his complexion and my fair hair and pale skin - to say nothing of our chummy way of addressing each other - we turned heads wherever we went. I wonder what happened to Azmin? D.
 
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hi sandra
i still use that expression to people i know today and have done so for many years hollow legs
meaning they are a big boozer and they drink and drink and neve get drunk on booze of course because there legs are hollow
and it runs out of there feet best wishes astonion
 
hi astonian ...re hollowlegs ....my uncle used to call my sister (then 7yrs old).hollowlegs .after your saying what it meant i can only assume she used to drink a lot of "pop".....ive not heard it said again until now....cheers .
 
Good morning, sandracoley,
May I ask a rather personal question? Did your 7-year-old sister used to eat an unusual quantity of food? Personally I've always heard the nickname "Hollowlegs" applied to someone with an enormous appetite. David
 
hi sandra
as your sister was only seven way back then i can only presume your father meant that your sister was eating a hell of alot and never stops
my older brother when we was growing up always eating bread all day long he could eat a loaf of bread to himself when he was around ten
we called him hungry horrace way back in the forties and fifties but for the last decade a two we now and i do used the expression of some one whom
is constantly eating all day long and always complains that they are hungry all day like my son whom is now thirty years of age 6 foot 3 in tall
and always complained that he his hungry all day long and it seems he his eating out the house
i used the expression which was another expression from around the late fifties early sixties i say about people and to my son even today
hes like a human dust bin because you cannot fill him ther is no ending to his eating habbit best wishes astonion
 
when in the army I always associated Spud or spudy with "Smith", chalkie with "White", dinger with "Bell", although my dads nickname through out his army service was "spudy".
paul
 
Absolutely marvellous !!!!
I think we've got something going here ...... thanks to Astonian! He really got me thinking about surnames which automatically give their owners a nickname. This is a list of surname-associated nicknames which come to mind :

Murphy ……………… “Spud” Murphy / Taylor
White ………………... “Chalky” White
Clark/Clarke ………..... “Nobby” Clark/Clarke
Miller ……………….... “Dusty” Miller
Nelson …...…………... “Admiral” Nelson
Thorn ………………... “Spike”/”Spikie” Thorn/Thorne
Underhill …………...… “Mole” Underhill
Webb ………………... “Spider” Webb
Perkins ………………. “Polly” Perkins
Sanders ……………… “Sandy” Sanders
Watson ……………… “Winker” Watson
Mc/Mac ……………... “Jock”
Bell ………………….. “Dinger” (thanks, Paul !!)
Smith .......................... "Smudger" (cheers, ed)

Could you please add to the list; there must be many, many more.
 
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Ed Pete is a Smith and he too was a Smudge. Named one of our cat's after him. Smudge that is. His brother had jet black hair and they called him Black Bat. His other brother I am afraid's nickname would have me frogmarched off the forum!!!!!!!. Even now when we meet up with him that very saying comes to mind and once Pete made me giggle when we were out and I had to kick him under the table then make a sharp exit to the Ladies. Jean.
 
I have had several nicknames over the years, my first one "pudding" or Pud, then Bunny, all the Arnold side of the
family still call me that, Pauline calls me Uncle Bunny, then in the Army it was "Brummie", then "Q" after The QM
stores, then after moving to Burton it was back to Brummie. I used to say I dont mind what you call me so long as you call me when you have made the tea. Bernard
 
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