Nicknames

I think probably everyone has had some kind of nickname in their life. Among my many aliases, I have been called Nellie, Nell, Nells, Janellie, Janeli (say if as if you were speaking Spanish--the j makes the h sound--and sing it to "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof), Mighty Mouse, One Dimple, and countless other things that I don't remember. Some of these are from family, some from friends, but they all were things that I have been or are still called.

There's a certain strange thing my friends and I do. We make up nicknames for the people around us. These are typically only known by us, mainly so we can talk about the person whilst* they are standing right there, and they will have no idea. It's been interesting to see how we come up with the different names for the people we know.

Sometimes we just make up a name for someone. There is one person we call PMSE because, well, we were trying to avoid him, and those letters provided a perfect excuse. "You can't come with us." "Why?" "Because we're three girls who are PMSE." The letters do actually stand for something, but I'm not going to tell you what. That would defeat the purpose.

I have the tendency to give people names with "Boy" at the end of them. So that gives us people like Jason Campbell Look-Alike Boy (He really did look like a fatter Jason!), Weird Evolution Guy, Cute Quiet Zoology Boy, who is not the same as Cute Zoology Boy, and the list goes on. Recently added to the "Boy" list would be Club Sandwich Boy, who got his name for randomly talking to the guy behind me about club sandwiches one day in English.

Usually names come from some outside source. For example, we are acquainted with a young women whom we call The Ugly One. Now, this is no reflection on her looks; she is a very pretty girl. However, those of you who have every seen Teen Girl Squad! may know exactly why we would give her this name. If you're not acquainted with Teen Girl Squad, get to know them now.

Our biggest resource for names, however, is Jane Austen. Her characters are so real we can find people similar to them everywhere. We know a Miss Bates, who is extremely talkative on one major subject, although our Miss Bates's fixation is not the same as Emma's. We avoid our Mr. Collins whenever possible, for he creeps us out. We've disdainfully talked about our Mr. Wickham and his complete disregard for women's feelings. We've been seriously annoyed with our own Isabella Thorpe, who keeps a guy around for convenience until a better one comes along. Of course, they aren't all bad. We are acquainted with a Mr. Bingley, who is gentlemanly and kind. I'm sure in time we'll meet our Mr. Knightleys, Ferrars, Tilneys, and Colonel Brandons. There has to be at least one Mr. Darcy out there somewhere.

I've been wondering, though, about these nicknames. Is this a common occurrence, or just something we do? Do other girls out there do this? Do guys do this? The world may never know, unless you leave me a comment and tell me!

*I think whilst is such a cool word. :)