Nicknames

If you know me at all, you know I love the TV show The Gilmore Girls. I was watching an episode the other day while eating my near-daily grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup (mmm grad student food!), and at a Friday Night Dinner Emily told Lorelei and Rory that her friend Sweetie had died. Lorelei asked how Sweetie got her nickname. Emily makes up some very long, intricate story to satisfy Lorelei's curiosity, but it got me to thinking about nicknames.

I tend to give nicknames to people after awhile of knowing them (for example, Kay-diddle), and I've noticed that people give nicknames to me, too. While some of them I cherish, not all of them are appreciated.

Lots of people call me Abby-- mostly professors. They all ask at the beginning of the class if I go by a nickname, and I always tell them no, I prefer Abigail, but apparently it's no good. The problem is, if in class a a professor calls you Abby, suddenly the whole class knows you as Abby. And seriously, I can stand many nicknames, but I've never been a fan of Abby. I'll respond, of course, but after awhile it drives me crazy. In class a few weeks ago one other student kept referring to things I had said by calling me Abby and I literally wrote in huge letters in my notebook "ABIGAIL" just to keep myself from yelling it out.

Even worse is "Crabby-Abby." My PE teacher in 5th grade used to call me that. It combined "Crabby" with my least favorite nickname "Abby" and I was MISERABLE.

Somehow, though, Abi seems ok. The spelling makes a huge difference. I still hate it when people call me Abi/Abby, but if I see it written as Abi I feel much less bad about it. I've had several friends and (ex) boyfriends over the years write to me as Abi or even call me Abi (which in the "ex" case should have been a sure sign to break up ;), right?), and I never mind it so much when I see it spelled out that way.

Other friends of mine call me Ab, which isn't bad. It's better than Abby, that's for certain, and because I'm usually quite close with the people who call me Ab, it's even better than Abi, whether said or spelled. My friends Dana and Emily call me Ab or Abs, and for them either is okay. :)

Usually, though, my father calls me Abs. He's called me Abs since I was born. I sort of think of that name as being reserved for him. Sometimes other people that I don't know well call me Abs, and it's a little jarring, because that's the name that my dad uses and only he can legitimately use, at least in my opinion. Every e-mail and every birthday card is addressed to his wonderful daughter, Abs. I love my Dad, and I love hearing from him and having him call me Abs. (Also, that's the URL of this blog-- absandtherealworld)

One of my best friends, Mike J., calls me Absi and I love that nickname! It's my "name" on blogger, and I just don't know what I would do if Mike ever quit calling me Absi. I forget how we even stumbled upon it, but it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I'm called Absi by people that I love.

Of course, I prefer Abigail in most situations. So, if you want to get on my good side, stick with Abigail and I will probably think you're the most awesome person ever for not trying to make me an Abby! :)

How do you all feel about nicknames? Got any good ones?