Nicknames
Lee is always horrified at the nicknames my parents gave us growing up. Because I was a "healthy" kid (i.e. fat), my parents used to call me Fratzola, which is a large loaf of bread. If you've ever been to Greece and peeked inside a bakery, I'm sure you've seen one. Like all good nicknames, mine gave me a huge (get it? huge?) complex that I was fat.
Greek nicknames generally border on the sadistic. For example, one of my maternal ancestors had some type of walking disability, resulting in his real last name being lost or forgotten and replaced by Koutso, which literally translates to "cripple".
Lee doesn't remember ever having a nickname when he was young, but I'm sure Banana, Oops #1 and Oops #2 will never forget theirs.
Anybody wanna share how they got their nicknames? I promise we won't make fun of you. Well, at least not to your face.
5 comments:
Re: Oops #1.
This was not really a nickname I grew up with from childhood. I mean, I knew from a fairly young age that I wasn't a...planned baby. By the time I was in high school, the "Mom cried when she found out she was pregnant with you, and not out of happiness" story was one of the staples of the Vander-tales diet - along with Damien's accidental conception and Nanya's reaction.
Still, the first time I remember hearing (or actually, reading) my nickname was on the last night of a high school retreat that everyone went to at the end of their senior year. The school had all the seniors' parents write their children letters. Most were pretty maudlin, with moms and dads telling their children how proud they were of them and how much they loved them, etc., etc.
Dad wrote mine, and he started the letter with the following: "Dear Derek, Mrs. Rubin asked your Mom and me to write you this letter several months ago, so I decided to do what you did with all of your college applications: I put it off until the night before it was due." Then, a sentence or two later, Dad dubbed me his "Oops #1."
Needless to say, I had clearly received the best letter at the retreat that night. And, as a bonus, Damien's nickname was also implicitly established.
The End.
well well... thanks for bring that up! i had supressed those memories... i was wondering: who did give me the name "banana"??? was it you, fratzola? probably not since you were the smallest one...anyhow, it was a great part of our childhood and with these nicknames came alot of fun and wonderful times and memories that i only wish our kids will get to experience...
with love, anna aka "banana"
Thanks to Wee-Wee my Dad STILL calls me Hill-wee ... oh and he also types it in e-mails he sends to me.
hill
who can ever forget "skouti," my dad's endearing way of calling me stupid. even though i ended up earning a doctorate degree the nickname still haunts me. maybe it would help if he finally stopped calling me that....
look at those abs. i was hot!
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