Is shortening names really a convenience?

[Gomendosi]

Australia has a national past time, it consists of two things which are shortening the name of something (possibly adding an ?O? at the end) and then extending that shortened form, IE;

In the first instance:
Garry would become ?Gazza? and David would become ?Davo?

And we extend shortened versions for shits and giggles:
AC/DC [Band] becomes Acca Dacca

Obviously we are not the only peoples to do this type of thing but we are widely known for it as it is an identifying trait of the ?Bogan? (see, chav, redneck, bum, lout ETC.)
It usually goes that if you know somebody named Shazza or Jimbo or Johnno, then chances are they wear moccasins or Ugg boots (uggies), flannel shirts, collect the dole and smoke durries (cigarettes).



Anyway, back to the point, I have become obsessed lately and I often have to wonder if shortening names is really a convenience or just plain laziness or stupidity, why you ask, because I don?t like my name shortened and it is seen as odd behaviour.
To insist upon being called by your full name is un-Australian to some people it would seem, let me elaborate by way of a little story?

I was in the supermarket tonight and tried to avoid this creepy drunk bloke, he always wants to shake hands and refers to me in the short form. He finally caught up to me and I had already made sure both arms were full to avoid the ubiquitous shaking, so he calls to me; ?Dave? [not my real name] and I ignore him, he shouts this time, ?DAVE?. I turn around?

Him: Hey Dave!
Me: Hey, what?s up buddy? [didn?t recognise him and don?t know his name]
Him: Nothing much dude, you?
Me: Same old, same old.
Him: ?
Me: ?
Him: So?
Me: ?
Him: Didn?t you hear me call you Dave?
Me: Yeah, I mean, I heard you but my names not Dave!
Him: Sorry man, Davo then?
Me: I prefer if you call me David
Him: Sorry Dave
Me: No, it?s David.
Him: Oh, yeah?
Me: Oh well, see ya some other time.
Him: Well are you working yet?
Me: Nah, not me, how about you?
Him: Nup, hey, I haven?t see you in a while Dave?
Me: Man seriously?
Him: What?
Me: Never mind mate [still don?t know his name]
Him: ?
Me: I gotta go, have fun shopping ; ]
Him: Righto Davo, keep in touch
Me: ?
Me: I?m gonna be busy?

I just don?t know about some people, I?ve never associated with this guy but every time he sees me he insists on carrying on like were besties from way back, when I only ever knew him through some people I used to hang around about 15 years ago, and how hard is it to call me by my name if I ask you to? It?s not like it is that much harder to call me David [not my real name] instead of Dave or Davo, I mean really, C?mon!

Anybody else have any trouble with shortened forms of the names of things?
Or am I just that one weird guy that this totally normal and acceptable practice seems to bother ; ]

 

[Mellotron]

Haha wow, I guess that guy just didn't get it! Yea I think about this situation sometimes. There's one guy in my company I work for and he had just started working there and within about 2 days he is calling people by nicknames not even having a relationship with anyone yet. It irks me if someone does that without knowing me well enough, I don't care if they do know me well enough but not right away. Back in high school/college nobody called me by my first name, they always used my last name. That was fine, I guess its what people do at that age.

I personally have a problem calling anyone by any name at all, nickname, real name, anything. It feels like a struggle to get the name out if I need to get their attention. I'd rather say "hey" or something.

 

[tree]

I don't like to use names for anybody I am speaking with
and I'd rather they didn't use any form of my name either.
The exception is when I am talking to a cat. Cats I don't
feel weird addressing by various names and salutations.

 

[metalminx24]

Me too. I feel awkward using peoples' names and don't like them using mine either. As for shortening names, it seems that adding a Y to a guy's surname within a group of blokes is the done thing, and women just seem to make each others' first names as short as possible. This is just an outsider's view because I don't belong to a group of anything!!

 

[ancusmitis]

The short form of my name has a short vowel in it, and the locals are unable to pronounce it correctly. So it's hard to tell whether they are talking to me. I always use the long form of my name, or choose an alias (which I prefer to do anyway, but mostly I don't because it would be "weird")

 

[moteel]

I can't use peoples name either. I just get so tied up inside! At work I have forced myself to use peoples names. We work in an open area and I quickly say their names in the morning as I walk passed them. Sort of a forced practice. I also give out nicknames to just to skip names. People at work who I don't know or never met get a nickname. Once someone asked about someone who we both had seen for years around work. They couldn't believe I didn't know them. I just avoid people I don't want to know. I don't even like my name being used. I think I'm in trouble when I hear it especially in its proper long form. By the way I'm an baby boomer age. All this just adds to my exhaustion when I get home.

 

[Tom]

I prefer names, even if just a nick, from aquaintenances/friends. No name or 'Hey You' stuff feels impersonal. Names are easily skipped online. I make special note of people who use my name - it's that rare.

 

[BigTimber]

My dad has a big problem with this. He hates the shorthand of his name. He constantly talks to new people for work and a lot of people insist on calling him by the popular nickname of his name despite him repeatedly asking them not to. It's because people want to be casual and friendly and they think they're accomplishing that by using a nickname.

I call people by whatever they tell me to call them. If they tell me to call them "Prancing Unicorn", I'm calling them "Prancing Unicorn".

 

[asd8513]

People call me Rach as opposed to Rachel. I like it better than my nickname in middle school which was roachel

 

[BIMOG]

In some cases name shortening is most definitely a convenience. For example the name Otto von Habsburg is far easier to use than his full name...

Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg, Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galizia, Lodomeria and Illyria.

Otto was actually a real person, not a fictional character, and those are his full real names and titles.

However some very short names are longer in their "affectionate, shorter forms" than they are in their full form, for example: Johnny/Johnnie are longer than John.

 

[Ylva]

Remember the scene in Ferngully where a boy fairy mispronounces Zack's name to show his disdain for him? I think it's like that.

 

[Spiller]

We have a similar passtime in the UK, though not everyone participates, so I fail to understand that, as I prefer to be called by the shortened version of my name and that's how I introduce myself, why people keep calling me by the long version, which I don't like as it was part of my being bullied at school.. It drives me nuts!