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Archiver > ESSEX-UK > 2004-09 > 1094066915


From: "colleen morrison" <>
Subject: Re: Re:Nicknames - ' Pole' GOODY (Maypole Pub) & others
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 20:28:35 +0100
References: <44C44479.1869476F.006A19F4@aol.com>


Good point about bonding, Dave. 19th century rural villages could be
very tight knit communities because there was so much interdependency and
so many of those in a village would have been related to almost their entire
village in one form or another. Nicknames would have been one way of
expressing, cementing and testing those bonds. Perhaps mariners needed even
tighter knit communities than land lubbers as only another mariner could
help you if you got into trouble at sea or out on the estuary. So the
apparent
higher incidence of nicknames among mariners is one expression of that.

I also have a cousin who has 'become' her nickname. Most people know
her as simply as Binx and haven't a clue what her Christian name really is.

Colleen


----- Original Message -----
From: <>

> In an email dated 1/9/2004 8:21:18 am GMT Daylight time, "colleen
> morrison" <> writes:
>
>>>The nicknames which seem to have been rife in this part of Essex -
>>>Maldon, Tiptree, Tollesbury, Blackwater estuary villages - especially in
>>>coastal areas among the fishing and boating community, fascinate me.
>>
>>Old Pye, Old Stubbins, Shaver Mills, Sooty Mussett, Hobby Keeble, Gunner
>>Cook, Pinky Hewes, 'Admiral' Wyatt among them.
>>
>
> Hi Colleen
>
> ISTRT I have read about the commonness of nicknames in Essex somewhere
> before. I'm not sure if it was a method of 'bonding' during difficult
> times, but to use a different name from the given name has always put both
> the person called by the nickname and the person calling them by it into a
> sort of 'club' - a piece of shared knowledge that puts them outside the
> boundary of a formal relationship and inside the boundary of friendship.
> The fishermen in Leigh-on-Sea were nearly all known by their nicknames
>
> These nicknames could also seem quite insulting to those on the outside,
> using descriptions of the person in one form or another. Your 'Pole' Goody
> (tall and thin like a bean-pole, with the added 'in-joke' of him running
> the Maypole Inn) is one example, as well as 'Lofty' meaning someone tall.
> Then there are the opposites - 'Lofty' for someone short, 'Bright' for
> someone who's a bit on the dim side, etc.
>
> But 'insults' like these are all part of the British way of life which is
> not always understood by those places abroad where it is socially
> unacceptable to say anything bad about someone to their face. In the UK,
> once you have got to know someone well enough to feel comfortable stepping
> over the boundaries in order to be rude to them and they have insulted you
> back then it's a sign you have been accepted.
>
> However, it must be obvious that the insult is meant in jest. Get that
> wrong and they will never speak to you again!
>
> It is the same with nicknames - unless your nickname has virtually become
> your Christian name (I know someone whose name is Helen but everyone calls
> her Hen) it is insulting for a stranger or an official to use it until you
> have got to know them better.
>
> Dave D
>
>


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