Now that I'm starting to have my little groups of friends that I hang out with, I'm learning about the exciting world of Chinese nicknames. For some reason, the Chinese are reluctant to call people by their real names. Teachers are just called "teacher". Family friends are "auntie". Older classmates are "older brother" or "older sister".
These are just titles, I know. But friends will also create nicknames for one another, that they will use exclusively instead of their real names. I have several friends whose nicknames perfectly exemplify this phenomenon. They are: Spider, Big Ocean, Big Mountain, Donkey, Old Chicken, and Cow-cow. They get all into it too. "Donkey", for example, has a adorable stuffed donkey on a keychain on his backpack. (Yes. His.) His friends will also give him a friendly nudge if they see donkey meat for sale anywhere (not as uncommon as you might think).
I myself have been honored with a nickname of my own. Two actually. One is "Little Pony". The other is "Happy-happy". Because I don't want to be informed whenever horse flesh is for sale, I think I'll be encouraging use of the latter.
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1 comment:
alexis, or... little pony! i love your stories!! keep rockin' the blog, and know that i'm reading it regularly... i'm not too active on facebook these days, but thanks for your note. i didn't Palinate myself for halloween. it seemed too cliche already!
xo
carrie
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