Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Nicknames

Bare Blue Stringam

Both of my parents served in the 4-H calf club in our community.
This duty included attendance at the club's annual summer retreat.
I know you are wondering what this has to do with nicknames, but wait for it . . .
Because both of my parents were going on the trip, all of their children had to come along.
Because.
My brother, Blair, was three.
A happy, friendly little boy.
Who didn't always spit out his words clearly.
One young man, a member of the club, asked the smiling little towhead his name.
"Blair Lewis Stringam."
"What?"
"Blair Lewis Stringam."
Admittedly, it came out sounding something like 'Blairloostringam'.
But I digress . . .
"Bare Blue Stringam?"
"No! Blair Lewis Stringam."
"Okay. Bare Blue Stringam."
And just like that, he had a nickname.
It's that easy.
My Grampa, George Stringam had a younger brother who couldn't pronounce Grampa's name clearly.
It came out "Dard."
Thus, his nickname. Dard.
Which my brother, George, inherited the moment he was born.
My daughter, Tiana, was learning to spell her name.
She wrote the letters 'T', 'I' and 'N' properly. But her 'A's' had the lines on the wrong sides, thus disguising them as 'B's'.
Her second oldest brother, Erik was looking at a sheet of paper she had been practicing on.
"Who's Tibnb?" he asked.
A name we call her to this day.
I, myself have been through several incarnations of my name as told here.
What are the nicknames in your life?
I'd love to hear them!

7 comments:

  1. Well, my actual name is Delores Elaine...dad would call me Lorus and mom changed it to Lorrie and I am only just now down to a tiny handful of folk who still call me Lorrie. I don't even think about it much anymore. If someone calls me Lorrie I look around to see who they are talking to. Occasionally my hubby calls me Dull Bean. Don't ask.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My cousin Pat was known as Pasty for years, due to that consonant reversal in 1st grade. I didn't learn until I was an adult my cousin Weegee's name was George, after his father. When we were young Weegee's name was part of the adult distance mystery. We didn't really know how to ask the question. Why do you call him Weegee was answered That's his name. We needed to ask Is Weegee a nick name?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I barely remember my insistance that my middle name was 'Tigger-Pie'... :P :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's so cute. In my home we were called by our proper name but then I had no brothers or sisters.
    My son was named Alexander but we called him Sasha Pasha for short from story books, till he objected and my second son called him Addie or Adex cause he couldn't pronounce his name.
    Alex called Nick Dork when he was born and told him he would punch him out if he touched his computer to which the baby grabbed his nose and they became friends right there. lol I called Nick my little Pip because he loved hats and clothes. He was quite particular about clothing as opposed to son number one who was happy go lucky except for his Nike's lol.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Diane, this post just made me smile! I can almost hear your little brother pronounce his name! Oh my goodness, that must've been a cute moment! My daughter has at least three nicknames but the one that sticks the most is Kiki. I think she likes it the most because according to her, it sounds "chic". :) My sister was always frustrated to not have a nickname, but really, what kind of nickname do you give someone called Mary? hee hee! Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love nicknames... when they are nice ones! :) My sisters and friends from grade school all just call me Ging, but my dad used to call me Gingerellabella. My sister was Amberellabella. You get the jist. :) One of my very dear friends from grade school had a huge booger on her face when we were all swimming at the pool one day and that was her nickname from then on. Every one caller her Booger. Sad... but she embraced it. This was such a cute post!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting! Drop by again!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!
My FIRST murder mystery!

Blessed by a Curse

Blessed by a Curse
My very first Medieval Romance!

God's Tree

God's Tree
For the Children

Third in the series

Third in the series
Deborah. Fugitive of Faith

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael
A House Divided is now available at all fine bookstores and on Amazon.com and .ca!

Daughter of Ishmael

Daughter of Ishmael
Now available at Amazon.com and .ca and Chapters.ca and other fine bookstores.

Romance still wins!

Romance still wins!
First romance in a decade!

Hosts: Your Room's Ready

Hosts: Your Room's Ready
A fun romp through the world's most haunted hotel!

Hugs, Delivered.

Compass Book Ratings

Compass Book Ratings

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!
New Tween Novel!

Gnome for Christmas

Gnome for Christmas
The newest in my Christmas Series

SnowMan

SnowMan
A heart warming story of love and sacrifice.

Translate

My novel, Carving Angels

My novel, Carving Angels
Read it! You know you want to!

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic
What could be better than a second Christmas story?!

Join me on Maven

Connect with me on Maven

Essence

Essence
A scientist and his son struggle to keep their earth-shattering discovery out of the wrong hands.

Essence: A Second Dose

Essence: A Second Dose
Captured and imprisoned, a scientist and his son use their amazing discovery to foil evil plans.

Looking for a Great Read?

E-Books by Diane Stringam Tolley
Available from Smashwords.com

The Babysitter

The Babysitter
A baby-kidnapping ring has its eye on J'Aime and her tiny niece.

Melissa

Melissa
Haunted by her past, Melissa must carve a future. Without Cain.

Devon

Devon
Following tragedy, Devon retreats to the solitude of the prairie. Until a girl is dropped in his lap.

Pearl, Why You Little...

Pearl, Why You Little...
Everyone should spend a little time with Pearl!

The Marketing Mentress

The Marketing Mentress
Building solid relationships with podcast and LinkedIn marketing

Coffee Row

Coffee Row
My Big Brother's Stories

Better Blogger Network

Semper Fidelis

Semper Fidelis
I've been given an award!!!

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award
My good friend and Amazing Blogger, Marcia of Menopausal Mother awarded me . . .

Irresistibly Sweet Award

Irresistibly Sweet Award
Delores, my good friend from The Feathered Nest, has nominated me!

Sunshine Award!!!

Sunshine Award!!!
My good friend Red from Oz has nominated me!!!

My very own Humorous Blogger Award From Delores at The Feathered Nest!

Be Courageous!


Grab and Add!

Search This Blog

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?