Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Return Of LeedleDee?


I’ve never really had a nickname, or at least not one generally known by anyone outside my immediate family.

My father is one of the few that uses my middle name, calling me “Tamma-Jean!” or sometimes just Tamma.

My little brother (who was born when I was 14) and I call each other by only our middle names, he calling me Jean and me calling him Joseph. No real reason.

I also used to call him Big Bri Stud, because as a pre-schooler he was constantly eyeing up the pretty girls (of any age, usually blondes) and hitting on them. My high school boyfriend had taught him to say “Hey Babe, what’s happenin’?” at the tender age of 3, so he was always a hit with the ladies. But over the years Big Bri Stud has gotten shortened to Big B. Or sometimes I just call him B.

My big brother was 1-1/2 when I was born, and he loved me. To my mother's dismay, he would sneak into my crib and try to hold me and sing me songs. At least he wasn't smacking me. That came later during The Teasing Years.

And as a toddler he called me “LeedleDee”, because he thought that sounded like a song. That was my first nickname: LeedleDee.

He called me LeedleDee often as we were growing up. He said it with a sneer during The Teasing Years. Those years ushered in new nicknames as well, such as Slammy and Meathead. I liked LeedleDee better. If memory serves, I simply called him Duane the Pain, or sometimes just Jerk or Idiot (said through tears, of course).

When my brother entered high school, he got a nickname of his own. My parents had named him after Duane Eddy, the guitarist my father loved so much. But he had never liked his name, because the show What’s Happening had come out in the 70’s with a main character named Dwayne, and that was perfect ammo for elementary school kids.

I’m not quite sure what my brother did in high school to earn the name “Doctor Love,” but I am quite sure there is more to the story than a simple fondness of the song by Kiss. To this very day, he is known as Doc. Most people don’t even know his real name and they get confused at his job when I call and ask for this “Duane” person.

In the days of my grandparents and even my parents, everyone had a nickname:
Lukey Lou (our crazy neighbor)
The Ground Mole (my uncle)
Beetle Bailey (another uncle)
Dob (my grandmother, and I have no idea why)
The Pheasant (my great-grandmother)
Tank (another guy from the neighborhood)
Mimi (my aunt)
Porky (my father’s friend)
Twinkie (Porky’s son)

One of my grandfathers was called Tiny, because he was so thin. My brother has a friend called Tiny as well, because he’s the size of a Mac Truck.

I’ve got a cousin named Buddha and a friend named Sully.

My father has two drinking mugs that he got when he was in the Navy. Both display the emblem of his submarine. But I remember asking him once when I was little, “Why does one say ‘Peachy’ on the back and the other one say ‘Tiger’?” He pointed to my mother: “Peachy!” And then he pointed to himself: “Tiger!” “No way!” They both nodded their heads. “Ooooooh…”

But for the benefit of us kids, my father gave himself a new nickname. “You know what you kids should call me?” he proclaimed one day. “Super-Fonzie-Austin.”

“What??”

“Super for Superman. Fonzie, because I’m cool like the Fonz. And Austin for Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. Super-Fonzie-Austin - that’s my new name.”

So we would giggle as we called my father Super-Fonzie-Austin. Soon after, he decided to add Genius to the end of his name. And so besides being known as “The King” (another self-nomer) throughout his castle, he also became known as Super-Fonzie-Austin-Genius.

“What should mommy’s name be?” we asked.

“The Old Bag” he joked.

That one always made us attack him, and a full-blown wrestling match would ensue. I was the more aggressive one though. “Go get him, Tam!” my big brother would say, pushing me toward the infidel who had insulted our dear mother, yet maintaining a safe distance from the melee.
I would run across the living room toward him at full speed, fists flying, and try to land as many punches as I could before he finally wrestled me to the floor, turned me around, and locked my head between his knees so he could continue watching TV. He never even had to get up out of the recliner. I’d still be karate-chopping at his legs, but I’d eventually admit defeat.

That “Old Bag” thing got him in trouble once, though. My little brother had just started pre-school, and he wasn’t feeling well. They needed to call my mother.

“What’s your mommy’s name?” they asked him.

“Mommy.”

“What does your daddy call your mommy?”

“The Old Bag.”

They got quite a chuckle out of that one over at the pre-school. My mother didn’t know whether to be mortified or hysterical with laughter.

But I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a nickname, a real nickname that everyone knew. Friends have called me different things over the years like Tamma-Lama or Tammie-Tam or Tabitha. Boyfriends have had pet names for me of course, and my husband does as well. My daughter and I have a million different silly names for each other.

But I’ve never had a real nickname. Perhaps I’ll take a cue from my father and name myself. I just have to come up with something good…

27 comments:

Aynde said...

I'd really like it if my kids called me "She Who Must Be Obeyed". Heck it would be great of that is what my husband called me too.

My dad always called me banjo lips. THANK GOD that it never stuck. he said I talked so much it was like listening to banjos.

*laughs*

I enjoyed reading your blog!

houseband00 said...

Hi LeedleDee! =)

That's a very cute monicker.

Julie said...

You know, I was always called Jewels growing up. It was even on my license plate, but as I got older I dropped it and became Julie. Then only certain people called me Jules. But now I like it. But I don't spell it with the "w" anymore. More of a grown up nickname, I guess.

Old Bag had be laughing so hard my sides hurt!!!

Travis Cody said...

I never had a real nickname that stuck either. People have called me Trav my whole life...but that's just my name shortened.

When I played junior football, the cheerleaders had a cheer they did about me. I only remembered this over the summer. They would say:

TAC TAC
The fast D-back

They'd chant it over and over. But it didn't stick...I guess cause it was too silly.

Glamourpuss said...

When I was in Russia, our hosts gave me a nickname, a Russian, diminuative form of my name. And I loved it, even though it was longer than my real name and hard to pronouce, it just made me feel that they liked me and cared about me.

LeedleDee is very cute. And it had history. Perfect.

Puss

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Aynde! And nice to meet you :) "She Who Must Be Obeyed" - I like that! And yes, sometimes it's better when names don't stick. My father called my little brother The Varmint when he was growing up!


Hi Houseband! It is kinda cute, isn't it? What I think is cute is that my brother wanted my name to sound like a song :)


Hi Jules! I like Jules as a nickname. It does sound more grown up than Julie, although Julie is a cute name too :)
And I know! Old Bag! Can you imagine? I think I would have killed him!

Hi Trav! See, "Trav" has a good sound to it. I think it works. My name shortens to "Tam" - not as cool as Trav for some reason...


Hi Puss! You mean your nickname isn't "Puss"? Yes, somehow receiving a nickname or a pet name does impart a feeling of being liked or special. Maybe that's why I'd always wanted one. Although I guess I already have plenty of them from my husband and my family.

KJP said...

I will bet those cheeks got pinched quite a few times by dottering old aunts, etc!

My nickname was "Chip", something about a movie with a character called Mr. Chips (no idea, never seen it!). But, once in the working world, I was "Flake". Did it refer to dandruff or was it that I debugged operating systems for a living? No idea and too embarrassed to ask. What if it was a reference to something really horrible about me?

AAAAAH!

Tammie Jean said...

Hi KJP! Aw, "Chip" is a cute nickname :) Not so sure about "Flake" though... My daughter has a friend they call McFlakey because he's kind of clueless and unreliable. I don't think that definition fits you at all!

Bud Weiser, WTIT said...

Teeje-
Good to see you posting. I know my nickname, everyone calls me it. It is my really name I forget. Loved the "Old Bag" part. Very funny!

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Bud! Funny, it seems around here my nickname is becoming TJ, or your shortened version of Teeje - very cute ;)
And yes, The Old Bag... who can argue with a term of endearment like that?!

Atypical California Girl said...

My aunt has a neighbor, big tall guy, called "Shorty."
I am going out with a guy who is 6'9" but no one calls him "Shorty."
I did ask him a while back if tall guys are called "Shorty," why are short guys never called "Tally?"

Atypical California Girl said...

Oh, and my middle name is Louise. So my sister used to call me "The Weez." Not a great nickname.

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Atypical! Yeah, siblings aren't always the best when it comes to nick-naming. I'm glad "Slammy" never stuck.
I went to college with a really tall guy. They called him Tree :)

Carly said...

Hi darlin :)

I enjoyed this entry so much. :) It really made me smile. Speaking as someone who has had many, many, maaannnny, nicknames over the years, I think you should try giving yourself one. There is nothing like it. It's fun, and you will be a special kind of comfortable with it. :) Let me know what you choose.

Hugs, Carly

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Carly! Many many nicknames, hmm? I imagine you must be quite a character to inspire so much creativity from those who know you (I hope they were all nice names!) ;)

Kiyotoe said...

T.
J.

There it is...

Nicknames are cool and in my "circle" if you get a nickname then you know you are loved.

;-)

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Kiyotoe! I think that's exactly it - having a nickname makes you feel liked. Thanks for giving me one :)

CS said...

Hey, welcome back. I grew up with a nickname version of my first and middle names and always hated it. SO just my name is fine by me. Although I don't mind nicknames when they are given in love/like.

Malathionman said...

I knew this guy in high school that we called "boner". Don't ask.

Atypical California Girl said...

Tammie,
My manfriend (who is 6'9" as I mentioned before) said he got called "Tree" a lot.
Never Shorty though.

Tammie Jean said...

Hi CS! Yes, that seems to be the consensus - you either love your nickname or you hate it. And I'm sure that has to do with the motivation behind the naming.


Hi Malathionman! You know, I was always surprised that they were able to use that as a nickname for the friend on Growing Pains.


Hi Atypical! Oh really? Another Tree? I wonder if people named for their very obvious physical traits like or don't like their nicknames?

Scott from Oregon said...

My favorite nickname was "dickhead".

I used to get Xmas cards that said "Merry Christrmas dickhead."

I just loved that.

katie eggeman said...

I was Katydid when I was little a mixture of my first and middle name and it stuck my dad called me that for years. My brother was Rob Bob to me, but I don't think he liked his name as he was always going by a different name. One time he wanted to be called Dick Sargent(nothing to do with Bewitched) and was angry when we didn't use it. We were at Knotts Berry Farm many years ago when it was much smaller, and he was lost, We heard the announcement will the parents of Dick Sargent please come to......he was about 3-4 at the time.

The Real Mother Hen said...

Leedledee, that's really sweet :)

And THE OLD BAG?
hhmmm... if husband calls me that, I think I'll feed him with my fist :)

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Scott! I wonder what you did to merit a nickname like that? It must've been something good if the name makes you smile ;)
My big brother gets Christmas cards addressed to Doc & Son, and that makes him smile because by "Son" they mean his dog Pete :)


Hi Bankerchick! Katydid is a cute name :) And the story about your brother is adorable!!


Hi Mother Hen! Yeah, I'm with you - a name like that would be a call to arms in my house...

Dan said...

I won't go into the knicknames I had! Ugh!

You haven't blogged in a while. Hope you are well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Dan! Nice to see you! I know, I know... I haven't blogged in a while. This is my busy time at work. But I try to stop in and look around when I can...
Happy Thanksgiving to you too :)