Saturday, November 27, 2010

The origin of the blog url


My dad
 It dawned on me last night that my blog has a name in the url that probably makes people wonder. Suzy Sassafras is just one of many nicknames I have. My dad is really into nicknames for his kids (Lisa was Half Pint; Joe was Chucker). My emails to him always end with, "Love you. SS".

Not sure why (maybe because I was such a goofy kid) but I've ended up with quite a few. My personal favorite is Suzy Sassafras. Some of these names have stories, some do not. Here are the other names my dad has made up for me over the years:
  • Kunkanookles (Your guess is as good as mine.)
  • Knees Nolan (I always had a band aid on my knee because I was a klutz.)
  • Smash Kath (see Knees Nolan.)
  • Dirty Diver (I invented a dive where I slathered mud on my bathing suit then dove into the water and came out all clean.)
  • U Knock Ferry (My dad used to swim with me on his back and he'd say "Here comes the New York Ferry!" which I of course couldn't repeat correctly.)
My other nicknames come from friends who perpetually feel the need to either invent new names for me or shorten my name (Kath, Kat, KD, K). The one thing I've noticed is that everyone calls me "Kathy D" even when there are no other Kathys in the group (like at church). No one else gets a last letter, but for some reason I do. Other nicknames and their origin:

  • Snapper (From friend Patty. No clue where this came from. She also often adds "-doodle" to the end of it.)
  • Nolan (My maiden name that some high school friends call me.)
  • Killer (My friend Carol calls me this for some reason and it's pronounced in the MA style - Killah.)
  • Loser (Carol again. Also pronounced in the MA style. I do not take offense.)
  • Sally (Because of my love of the song Mustang Sally. I think I'd prefer to be called Mustang instead. Definitely cooler.)
  • Neolani (Friend Gretchen has been calling me this since 8th grade. This was a guest character on Star Trek and it sounded so much like Nolan that she adopted it as my nickname.)
Everytime someone calls me by a nickname, I think back to the joyfulness of its creation. Nicknames are, I think, signs of affection. Shortening names is a way to show that you are fond enough of that person that you want to call them something less formal.

That's probably why my dogs have always had a ton of nicknames. It's my little gift to them.

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