Friday, May 8, 2009

What is up with the Nicknames?

My bloggy friend, Lit and Laundry, asked what the story is behind 'Optimus Prime' my sister's nickname.  I've been a nickname kinda girl for as long as I can remember. It must have something to do with my father, Tall Tale Daddy. King of nicknames and a real joker.

Tall Tale Daddy & Green Eyed Granny

Tall Tale Daddy is always coming up with some crazy nickname. Like for my nephew who has a big head...'Headly'. Not nice. I know. But we don't call him that to his face anymore. My other nephew who was(is) a granny's boy...'Shadow' because he never left my mom's side. Oooo, then there was this lady my brother dated. She was way older so my dad referred to her as his Aunt. "Shaneus, your aunt is on the phone!"

My father calls me Simon Garfunkel, or more frequently, just Garfunkel. 
On my blog, I call him Tall Tale Daddy because you never really know when he is waxing eloquently. Like how he tells everyone of the time he swam out in the ocean and got stranded on a buoy because he was surrounded by sharks....
Yeah, right. The man can't swim!

Optimus Prime
My brother, Shaneus McTier, came up with the name 'Optimus Prime' for our older sister when Transformers had first come out. Optimus Prime has a strong sense of justice and righteousness which describes our sister. And I think back in the day, Optimus Prime was a fighter. My sister didn't start fights but she was good at finishing them!

She has a few other nicknames...
Khrushchev, after Nikita Khrushchev (former leader of the Soviet Union).
The Little One, because she is the littlest one in our family at 5'5" (and 3/4").
Also Nicolita, Napole, Napolita, and Little N. 
Seems like we never call her by her real name.

Shaneus McTier
I didn't know who came up with the name Shaneus McTeir, a play on his real name, so I called my dad. Turns out, the name is actually Shaneus McTaneus. I'm sticking with McTier as that is what I've used for too many years.
Dad also calls him Mr. Van Buren because he has 'presidential qualities'. Van Buren was the 8th US president.

Donuts
I call our oldest brother, Donuts, which is a play on his name and he used to be a cop. Haha!! Get it - cops love donuts. I came up with that one. Which is why I'm the only one that calls him that. Thing is, he is a health nut and has always had a great body. He doesn't eat donuts. Or drink coffee. It's a tongue in cheek nickname.
Nicknames were great in high school. It was really handy that we referred to the guys we liked by nicknames. That way, no one sitting around us knew who we were talking about. It worked well.

Hey, NAMK, remember Mr. USA and Mr. Gym??

6 comments:

Heather Kay said...

Great Post! You have a beautiful family! My dad is a great one for nicknames also. I have been his Doody Loo's for a long time. My brothers nickname growing up was Buzz (for his haircut) I changed it to butts. I called him that for many years growing up. :)

Threeundertwo said...

Those are great. It's funny how we stop using real names sometimes. Your family has so many though! You must be a fun bunch.

Happy Mother's Day!

Michelle said...

I especially like mine!!! XOXO
Michey Mee

Shan said...

We're big on nicknames around here too. We all have multiple ones. I rarely call the girls by their actual names.

Mommy Project said...

LOL! Great post, Mony!! :0)

YES! I remember "Mr. Gym"...but I don't know who "Mr. U.S.A." is!! But then, I'm getting old. There was also "SQNX", "The Lion", and "Gus". ;-)

So far in our family Nicole (Lily-Pie, Colie, The Colester, Spark, Sparkle, Little Davey, Mini-Poodle...has the most nicknames of all).
btw--great to see the pics. of all your gorgeous family members.

WIDNEY WOMAN said...

NAMK, Mr. USA was my guy that I dated for a little bit. Blonde, muscular, few years older. He wore a red sweatshirt with USA on it when played volleyball during lunch and thus the name. I don't remember who The Lion was. We had so many names. Great idea, whosever it was!