# Do you think this is a bad nickname?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 16, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028 "2005-05-16T04:17:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028/41 "2005-05-17T19:23:31Z")

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> [@LifeOnWry](#):
>
> And by the way, your Monkey Boy is ADORABLE.

Thank you. I now understand why old women pinch cheeks. It’s so hard not to when they make him look so cute.

> [@SlowMindThinking](#):
>
> Regardless of your stance on corporeal punishment, I’d stop using that nickname about a year before he and his friends learn the phrase “spank the monkey”.

That was a bit of a disturbing thought. Okay, so I should probably stop calling him that around 8 or 9. That way he’ll just have a vague recollection about me calling him that when he learns about “spanking the monkey”.

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**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028/42 "2005-05-17T20:20:01Z")

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> [@kalex](#):
>
> Until I was 5 years old, I thought my name was Meeskite.
> 
> (for you non-Yiddish speakers, it means ‘ugly’.)
> 
> It sounds awfully mean but it’s meant affectionately. At least, that’s what they told me!

In Cantonese, “pig” and “jewel” are homonyms (_jeew_), so it’s not uncommon for kids to wonder why their parents are calling them “my little pig”…

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**Author:** ![Mis\_Understood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@Mis\_Understood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mis_Understood)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028/43 "2005-05-17T22:54:48Z")

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I have called my daughter “Bump” since she was an infant. She’ll be 14 next month and still answers to it. 😉 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=6167435#top](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=6167435#top)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=6167435#top](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=6167435#top)

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**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-is-a-bad-nickname/304028/44 "2005-05-18T00:32:45Z")

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My Grandpa always called my mom “Plup” when she was little. Then not so much. She had forgotton all about the name, but he hadn’t. She stayed with him when he was dying of cancer. As they talked, he called her “Plup.”  
Parents are like that.

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