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mech-eng
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Hi, all. As Tony Blair's real name is Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, but why everybody calls him as Tony Blair?
Never say "never". http://trueblueliberal.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/all-way-with-bho.htmlzoobyshoe said:John Fitzgerald Kennedy was often referred to as "JFK," and Lyndon Baines Johnson was often referred to as "LBJ," but Richard Milhouse Nixon was never referred to as "RMN," and Barack Hussein Obama is never referred to as "BHO."
JFK rhymes and everyone in LBJ was his choice.zoobyshoe said:John Fitzgerald Kennedy was often referred to as "JFK," and Lyndon Baines Johnson was often referred to as "LBJ," but Richard Milhouse Nixon was never referred to as "RMN," and Barack Hussein Obama is never referred to as "BHO."
What's the logic here?
zoobyshoe said:What's the logic here?
In LBJ'c case, it was apparently button widths.Vanadium 50 said:Headline widths.
"Well, hardly ever!"AlephZero said:Never say "never". http://trueblueliberal.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/all-way-with-bho.html
zoobyshoe said:John Fitzgerald Kennedy was often referred to as "JFK," and Lyndon Baines Johnson was often referred to as "LBJ," but Richard Milhouse Nixon was never referred to as "RMN," and Barack Hussein Obama is never referred to as "BHO."
What's the logic here?
"Landslide Lyndon." That's funny!SteamKing said:Before he acquired LBJ, Johnson was known as 'Landslide Lyndon', after the controversy surrounding his first election to the senate in 1948.
zoobyshoe said:John Fitzgerald Kennedy was often referred to as "JFK," and Lyndon Baines Johnson was often referred to as "LBJ," but Richard Milhouse Nixon was never referred to as "RMN," and Barack Hussein Obama is never referred to as "BHO."
What's the logic here?
SteamKing said:...
A more complete list can be found here:
http://usgenweb.org/research/nicknames.shtml
Matterwave said:Probably also Obama did not want to emphasize his middle name "Hussein" lest he lost a few paranoid voters...
I think "aliases" are often used by relatives or among friends. Without a close relationship or being in a group, calling one his alias I think will anger him. But I don't know about who are open enough to accept any calls. Does English language have a word to describe such people ?mech-eng said:When a family have two sons, can parents give Tony to one and Anthony to another and same question for
Michael and Mickey. Is Rickey same kind of situation of Michael to Mickey?
Medicol said:I think "aliases" are often used by relatives or among friends. Without a close relationship or being in a group, calling one his alias I think will anger him. But I don't know about who are open enough to accept any calls. Does English language have a word to describe such people ?
mech-eng said:I have thought Tony as a former name but shorter so easy-to-say than Anthony. Then there is no one have a identity card written Tony on it.
jedishrfu said:You can use whatever name you want on a birth certificate and that become your legal name. There are exceptions which differ from country to country. In the US, I have met people named Andy and that is their formal first name not Andrew.
The difficulty comes in first in elementary school where teachers presume your formal name is Andrew and call you by that name not realizing that its wrong.
mech-eng said:I have thought Tony as a former name but shorter so easy-to-say than Anthony. Then there is no one have a identity card written Tony on it.
SteamKing said:Edward - Eddie
mech-eng said:Then this shows that names causes aliases then those alias becomes abstract formal names by time.
jtbell said:Some people actively resist being called by a "normal" nickname. I had a friend in college who was always called "James", never "Jim."
By the way, the usual term for these aliases (at least in the US) is "nicknames".
"Alias" in connection with people's names often means an alternate name used by a criminal or spy or some other nefarious person.
mech-eng said:Is it a very very common trend in English-speaking countries that to give Tony and Johnny to a pet especially to a dog as a name?
mal4mac said:No. Is it common in your country to give common names of people to dogs? Imagine shouting for your dog in a park - you'd get some very puzzled kids! Here's a UK list:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23846869
Interesting how they are names that are unlikely to be used for people today. For example, Alfred isn't common, and would most likely be shortened to Alf for a person. Charlie is uncommon because it's quite an insulting name for humans - the phrase, "He's a right Charlie" means "He's an idiot".
mal4mac said:No. Is it common in your country to give common names of people to dogs? Imagine shouting for your dog in a park - you'd get some very puzzled kids! Here's a UK list:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23846869
Interesting how they are names that are unlikely to be used for people today. For example, Alfred isn't common, and would most likely be shortened to Alf for a person. Charlie is uncommon because it's quite an insulting name for humans - the phrase, "He's a right Charlie" means "He's an idiot".
mal4mac said:Charlie is uncommon because it's quite an insulting name for humans - the phrase, "He's a right Charlie" means "He's an idiot".
mech-eng said:When a family have two sons, can parents give Tony to one and Anthony to another and same question for
Michael and Mickey. Is Rickey same kind of situation of Michael to Mickey?
SteamKing said:I'm not sure what country you're speaking about, but there are more than enough 'Charlies' to shake a stick at in the US, so we must not have gotten that memo.
I wonder what HRH Prince Charlie thinks of this? Or Charlie Brown?
It's a living rule in your area . How sad! I'm not even allowed to call my own pet what I want.mal4mac said:No... Imagine shouting for your dog in a park - you'd get some very puzzled kids! Here's a UK list:
...
mech-eng said:I am confused now , Is Charlie like Anthony or Tony? And do people give strong and beautiful animals' names to their children such as lion and eagle. It is very popular to give hunting birds names to sons and in the past lion was also popular in Turkey. Some of our kings were named by their parents as Kılıçaslan which literally means sword-lion and Alpaslan which is bravelion. This names are similar to European names Louis and Adolph which both means lucky wolf.
Meanwhile Charlie is an insult in Turkey which means stupid. I think it started from a commedy program with a funny monkey called Charlie on the tv. Is there still a problem with Adolph?
Best Regards.
SteamKing said:I can't speak for why 'Charlie' is an insult in Turkey. It doesn't seem to carry the same insult factor in the English-speaking world. Is it perhaps because 'Charlie' sounds similar to a derogatory word in Turkish?
As for Adolph (or Adolf), yes I would think that the numbers of people with this name are declining, although there are probably a few still left.
At one time, there were more than a few Germans with the first name 'Wolf' or 'Wolfgang', both of which derive as you would expect from having to do with wolves. However, in the West, it became the custom for the given (or first) name to be chosen from one of the saints of the Catholic Church, or from the Bible, so names after animals gradually died out. Popular names once included those of the Romans, like Titus or Marcus, but these seem to be on the decline. With the herd mentality present in people nowadays, it's not uncommon to find more than one 'Jason' or 'Joshua' or 'Madison' in a class of schoolkids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name
Giving a name is something which has complex roots in history, culture, and custom.