Do you have a nickname? I didn’t really have one growing up, although close family and friends often call me Ali. Does that qualify as a nickname? Anyway, when I was in my late teens I had a boyfriend who insisted on calling me ‘Bunny’, which I thought was just ridiculous.
In Australia, nicknames are huge, or at least they were, but I wonder if they’re now going out of fashion. Before moving here in 1988, I met and married my Australian husband in NYC, where he had been posted by the Australian government. While we were dating he would regale me with stories of his friends from back home.
One day, he began telling me about his pal “Mary” and some memorable field hockey road trips from their younger days.
I was so confused. Either Mary was a man, or this woman really loved beer and the company of sweaty men. That’s a fairly unique woman in my view.
So I cut in, “Hang on a minute. Is Mary a guy or a girl?”
My husband replied, shocked this was even a question, “Of course Mary’s a guy! He’s a mate.” (Imagine an Australian accent.)
“So why on earth are you calling him Mary?!”
“Because his name is George!”
I failed to find that answer all that illuminating.
“Huh?”
And funnily enough, the reason why George was called Mary was forgotten but it stuck and no one called the man George, except his mother.
Sure enough, after we moved to Australia we arranged to meet up with a few of my husband’s old mates at a pub. As we walked in he called out “Mary!” to a man who looked exactly like a lumberjack sitting at the bar and who greeted us with the biggest bearded grin.
My ex-husband also had a pal called “Blue”. Naturally, Blue was a redhead. I think you get the picture.
My former partner’s last name is Dickinson and he, his brother, his father and grandfather all went to the same school in Sydney where of course they were all gleefully called “Dicko” and over three generations. Aussies are a consistent bunch!
The Film Colony ♛ 
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