The Names! The Names!

Discussion in 'Blogs' started by BakaMattSu, Jul 12, 2005.

  1. BakaMattSu

    BakaMattSu ^__^
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    I've been doing some recent reflection, and one of the thoughts that really jumped out this morning during a self-introduction was all the nicknames I've gone by. Now, this may not be the normal thoughts running through your average person as they shake your hand, but they were my thoughts in this instance.

    Well, I guess the most common, and the one shared by pretty much all with my namesake would be "Matt". It chops off the "hew" piece, saving anyone who says it a full syllable. It owes itself to what many original nicknames do, and that is, it's a convenience. Faster to say, type, intrerpret, and so on. Plus, it's a lot less harder to mistake for someone sneezing. Come on now, you think I'd live to be over twenty without hearing the lame "Matthew, gesundheit" line?

    Not every nickname has been one I liked. The older kids that I despised in the neighbourhood for their choosing of me as their tease target called me "learny".

    Spanning the end of grade school past the second half of grade six, it would not be uncommon to see me referred to as "wildman". Don't ask me what relevance it had to me, as I can't answer that question to save my life. It just happened to be what one of the teachers dubbed me, and it not only stuck, but got picked up by my classmates in general.

    When it came to the first year of High School, that twisty-turney year of transition, one of the spacier members of homeroom spun my last name yet again. For some reason, "burnout" didn't bug me nearly as much as "learny" had years before.

    Ah, high school...a very small minority clung to calling me "Barney" after a small little escapade I was involved in. Without going into much detail, suffice it to say I can do a mean Barney the Dinosaur impression, complete down to his singing voice. Taking up in queue for a singing contest one cafeteria morning, it blew away the more serious singing competition on the spur of the moment.

    And also in high school there was "millilitres", which also had the variations of "mill" and "milly". It came from an observation from one of my friends that I signed my artwork doodles with a small m and a big L, the abbreviation for the measurement millilitre (mL). Oddly enough, he is the ONLY person to date to call me by any of those names. ^^

    Rounding out the high school years was another singular namer (that is, a nickname I was called by solely person who named me that). "Sabotage" came from another Matt, and was seemingly randomly pulled from a Beastie boys tune to name me just so he had something to call me. Let's just say he was quite a character...

    Oh, and that same Matt ended up in a senior english class with me as well where the teacher distinguished between us by calling us...drumroll please... "Matt #1" and "Matt #2". Hey, it's still a nickname (I was #2 by the way). :p

    Most recently, I've taken up the name "Lenny" at work. Again, we have a second Matthew, and it can be annoying to hear the name "Matt" called out, only to get the attention of the wrong person. Where's Lenny coming from? I present my full name in its lengthy glory to explain that:

    Matthew George Lenard Lernout.

    So it started with "Lenard" (and the occasional "Leonardo" for some reason) until it was used so frequently that one of my coworkers had actually convinced himself it was my name - until his wife got confused and said, "wasn't his name Matthew?"

    I guess this sort of thing is expected from a society that has so many different ways to express one concept. At least I somehow figure out who they're talking to. :)

    Glad that here at BJP I'm just plain old "BakaMattSu" and nothing else.

    Oh, wait...I already have the BMS nickname. Oh well, that's the given convenience nickname, isn't it? ^^
     
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  2. Kagome's Arrow

    Kagome's Arrow Princess of Unicorns

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    Not for long.....from this moment forward, I will refer to you only as "Mattilda!"

    Enjoy! ^_^
     
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  3. Ciel

    Ciel Unoa Freak
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    ... that's scary KA! ka ka ka..

    Well, I didn't think you went through so many nicknames Matt. Why can't they just call you Matt and if there are two of you around, they can cry "Matt L!" or "Lernout!" and whatever that guys last name was. Maybe we are a society that likes calling people stupid names. .. well ya. that isn't a maybe.

    I wondered about the name Lernout with Deb(for like 3 seconds!), but what's the point in pointing out it's 'learn - out'? I mean you guys live with the name. No use making fun of it or bringing it up. I was sick and tired of hearing students mispronounce the name 'Renaud' even after saying it 6 times. But I never had the opportunity for someone to make fun of it, they poked fun at other things.
     
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  4. BakaMattSu

    BakaMattSu ^__^
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    Actually, Ciel, we did just that for a while. In fact, we called the other Matt by his last name "Campbell" for a long time.

    It's just that "Lenny" has stuck so well at the office that I've come to answer to it more often than my real name. ^^

    That's what sparked this whole thought this morning...I was debating whether or not to introduce myself as "Matt" or "Lenny" to my new coworker. In the end, I went with Matt.
     
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  5. luvweaver

    luvweaver Ad Jesum per Mariam

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    lol! :p That was a good one. You know,I like it when people share this stuff, it's like they (in this case you) let us know more about them, and strengthen our friendship. :)

    To share, I was called "Alvin" in the high school... if you ever heard of "Alvin and the chipmunks" you might deduce why :p The same year i began wearing braces, lol.
     
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  6. Seishin

    Seishin Guest

    Another problem with names. At least you got a name that people can remember eh? What if you were named something like....Lavernious (for some reason, it's a real name....*shudder*). They'd just have to call you by that name, which is hard, and long to say. Like me for example, my name's Alexander, but people either call me Alan, or Alex, whichever one. Be thankful for name's with 2 syllabells (misspelled i think...) or less. Easier to say, and to pronounce!

    Nevertheless, If i saw you, maybe for like the first two or three times i'd call you BMS or BakaMattSu, but then i'd just use Matt.^^

    -Seishin
     
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  7. Guest

    Guest Guest

    <3 That's an interesting history of nicknames. Not a lot of my nicknames ever stuck..as a screen name and internet name, Meaikoh definitely has, with lots of jokes surrounding it...not to mention the old school amongst us who can still call me 'MT'.

    To me, no matter what you choose to go by, you will always be BMS, or BakaMatt, or my BBM, that is Big Baka Matt...Or if I'm feeling formal, BakaMattSu.

    BakaMattSuey is a fun one ;)...
     
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