Sunday, May 5, 2019

Nicknames

LIAM JOSEPH MCNIFF-NIKOL

yes, that is Liam's full name. but like all pet parents we have a slew of nicknames which we use.
Started watching Game of Thrones and was blown away by the nicknames given the characters. And got me thinking of Liam's

what is a nickname?

Here is the link

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nickname
if you are not a LiamLinker
Looker upper
here it is

nickname

noun

nick·name | \ ˈnik-ˌnām

Definition of nickname

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a usually descriptive name given instead of or in addition to the one belonging to a person, place, or thing

2 : a familiar form of a proper name (as of a person or a city)

synonyms:

sobriquet, byname, tag, label, familiar name, epithet;

why do we do it?

accentuate a characteristic or highlight a behavior

we call Liam

Stubbett, Short Legs because he is height challenged

His uncle tagged him Beast he jumps and barks

show affection by prefacing with a loving adjective

Baby L, Baby Dog, Little Li, Baby Leester, Sweet Boy

bestow an analogy with another animal
Dingo, Ding

acknowledge a current condition
Fluffer Nutter
after a bath at Best in Show

Nicknames may also diminish, insult, taunt

Game of Thrones exhibits the use of descriptive nicknames

as I mentioned above

I started watching the first night of GoT

of its last season

I am buried in it now

addicted

Up to season 5

see link
where the origin of nicknames are explained

https://www.tor.com/2014/03/31/game-of-thrones-nicknames/

and some of its most famous

Mother of Dragons
The Hound

Kingslayer

Breaker of Chains

Thorn Lady

White Wolf

Red Woman
Imp

"Nicknames can be a mixed bag—sometimes they signal affection, admiration, or acceptance, and sometimes they’re a form of taunting, a devastating insult that lingers like a malicious ghost, inescapable. In the Song of Ice and Fire series, nicknames can be obvious, or ironic, affectionate or scathing, incredibly apt or impossibly unfair, but whether merited or misleading, such names often provide a window onto a deeper understanding of the characters that bear them."

Liam's

an illustrative series

see the inserted nicknames

Stubbett