By Edward Master
More than a few months have passed since I addressed nicknames (or monikers) of acquaintances (the passing of time may be years by now). But, recently in the past few weeks, these aliases have risen again. My wife was fond of raising the question “why don’t the people in Western Pennsylvania call each other by their God-given name?”
I chuckled, but I never really answered her question. I’m not sure that I ever can.
I’ve known two Butches in my days on this earth—Butch (Dennis) Alworth and Butch (Greg) Whitmer. All of us are A-C Valley alums. All of us are Clarion U alums. Butch Alworth made a career of banking; Butch Whitmer was a public school teacher.
Recently, I wrote of knowing three Harold Eugenes, with each having a second moniker—either Harley, Wink, or Harry. My father was often referred to as H-E. Wink and Harry went by Eugene through most of our public school years. In my immediate family, my Grandpa Master’s given name was Edward Bert. I never once heard anyone call him Edward, as he was always E-B or Bert. You could say I was named after him, but I also had an uncle Ed Johnson (one of my mother’s older three brothers).
I have never known many women to have some kind of nickname. I’ve known quite a few Trishas, Kates, and Pattys. Then you can add the Debs and Martys, too. In Turkey City, Moogs was a McCall (I think nee Mildred Watson) and Warp (Delores) Best was also a Watson. I’m betting that if they weren’t sisters, they were at least cousins.
My mother Eleanor could be Gracie to some of dad’s friends. Grace was her middle name.
Bob Craig, was a justice of the peace, and hence The Judge. Marvin Boog Klingler was a WW II veteran paratrooper who dropped into a French town on D-Day and spent time in a German prison camp recovering from a wound. Ivan Best (Bones) was a childhood pal of my dad, as was Jonah (Howard) Uncapher.
I’ve written too on The General, my friend Mike Rapp, labeled by former A-C assistant basketball coach Jan Gallagher. Mike’s brothers included Big Daddy (Jim) and Spuds (Bob). I’m in the dark on how Jim and Bob got their nicknames. Myself, I’ve always referred to Bob as Spuds.
The other largest group of nicknames I’ve known comes from college. We had our “God-given” or parental names and then our “Phi Sig” names. If you’ve seen the movie “Animal Houe,” you will fully understand. There was a Tree, a Rhino, a Big Paynie, a Little Paynie. A Wondrous, an Archie, a Sully. A Zip, a Paff, a Muzzie, a Dog, a Wilbur. Often the nicknames were bestowed even before starting college; others came with further academic adventure.
Speaking of sports
Congrats to Reynolds and Skenes on making the all-stars teams. Now let's see some more players make their cases, too.
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