Originally Posted by DawnMarie
I had a Spanish professor from Mexico. She was the smallest, skinniest thing you had ever seen. However, she was tubby when she was a little girl. Everyone called her "Gordita" (little fat girl), when she was younger. She was so sweet. I would have been offended if someone would have called me that, but she figured it was all in good humor.
We used to go to an orphanage down near Tijuana (not now because of the violence down there), and the women there called the kids nicknames that highlighted their worst characteristic. I thought it was mean at first, but then found out that it is all meant in love...fat kids are called gordo or gorda, gordita, etc. It's their way.
My name is Janice, and my whole family called me Jan. My mom called me Janny sometimes, and a girl I grew up with called me that all the time, and still does. I used Jan when I was a kid and a young adult, but started using Janice at age 40. Don't know why, it just seemed like time to do it. I like it when my mom and my friend still call me Janny.
My DH's family called him Johnny the Wrench for a while, because he used to take everything in sight apart, and carried a wrench in his back pocket all the time. One time he loosened the bolt on the front wheel of his brother's bike, and when he took off on it, the wheel flew off, and he went head over heels over the handlebars.