Nicknames

I had this thought a few days ago but due to moving from home back to uni I didn't have a lot of time to do anything and so I thought I'd jot a few things down here now. Being back at uni now means that I have less time to properly contemplate things and as such musings will probably be a lot shorter. However being back in itself gives me much more to think about. For example nicknames.

I never had a nickname until I came to university. In my sixth form year book in the space allotted for nicknames I used one that occasionally my parents have used and maybe the tower captain at bell ringing once or twice and all it was was a shortening of my name. In essence this is probably a definition of a nickname but I don't think it should really count. To me a nickname should say something about you and it should be given to you by friends because they have got to know you and have perhaps picked up on something that deserves notice. It may not even highlight a trait you have, it could be an entirely new name that people or you yourself have made up. I have also discovered that nicknames can develop and through that take on a meaning that only you and a handful of others understand, thus making them all the more special.

My point of all this is to say that nicknames (in my opinion) should be, to some extent, personal and they provide a great way of linking friends and cementing a group that can't be touched by the outside world. To me being given a nickname is also a symbol of acceptance, a way of a group of people saying that they want you to be a part of their circle and giving you a special place in that circle. Therefore, although I may not really know who I am, I am at least accepted for whoever I might be and that is perhaps more important than the actual knowing.