Nicknames

I've had my fair share. I don't know what made me think of this the other day, but I did, and I got to laughing out loud about it. I do that a lot, think funny things and laugh. I try and do this at home only, but I'm not always successful so people sometimes think I'm nuts.

Anyway, I looked back on my life and tried to remember all the nicknames I've had.

My oldest nickname is Boozer. This moniker was bestowed upon me and used exclusively by my late father, and he used it for as long as I can remember. Sometimes it would be expanded to Boozer Buns, but mostly it was Boozer or just plain Booze. He didn't always call me Boozer, but he did use it my whole life--usually when my mother wasn't around. I always liked it. And it has nothing to do with me boozing, though when I was young I would occasionally ask for a sip of his beer that he'd usually drink when he was done mowing the lawn and we think it may have started there.

The next nickname I can remember is Duck. I have no idea where that one came from. For a while, in fourth grade, everyone was coming up with nicknames for people and that was mine. I didn't mind at all, it wasn't given to me in a mean way. The only other one I can recall is a girl named Kristin whose nickname was Twine.

There was a long stretch there with no nicknames, at least none that I can remember, that continued pretty much until college, where there was a virtual boon of nicknames. The first one was Fez. Like the hat, but not. I believe this all started because sometimes my dad would call me "Leslie-beslie-feslie-sneslie." My dad was an odd one. Then somehow my floormates found that out, and Fez stuck. I liked Fez.

Then came Permabuzz. That was given to me by my classmates during our summer in France. I made a comment that I didn't suffer from hangovers, and one of the guys said "That's because you're always buzzed. Permabuzz." And people would seriously call me that. "Hey Permabuzz, could you help me carry this?" :) Permabuzz was a fun one.

Then came Stockyard. When I was younger, slimmer and had shorter hair, I understand that I bore a remarkable resemblance to Stockard Channing. So I was called Stockard, then Stockyard, and often just Stock. It was similar to Permabuzz in that it just became my name to some folks. I think that some people in the crowd I ran around with didn't actually know my real name.

My dad had a couple more nicknames for me, usually Gooseguts or Buttwipe. I told you, he was unusual.

The nickname I have now, if you can call it that, is Miss Leslie. I'm trying to remember how that came about and I just can't. Some friends from the South maybe? No matter what, I like it. It seems to be a throwback to a different time. I tend to call people that, too, Miss So and So. I don't know, it's fun I guess.

So, there's the history of some of my nicknames. Something funny, my grandmother and all her sisters were given nicknames by their father. See, he never had any boys, just girls. So while they were given girl's names, their father would call each of them by boy's names. Edna was Ed, Vera (my gramma) was Bum, Grace was Sam, and Marie was Bob. The one that stuck was my Aunt Bob. You have no idea how much I love telling people I have an Aunt Bob.

There's something so fun and playful about nicknames. I've enjoyed each one I've ever had.