Month: November 2019

Read It Again

~ crittersandcats ~ 1 Comment

Our granddaughter, Michelle, is a very bright young lady and a college graduate. Despite these attributes, she has her lapses just like the rest of us.

A few years ago, Pat and I were living in Keller, Texas, a small community on the northern edge of Fort Worth. Michelle had come from her home in San Diego to visit us in the period between school terms. We had been showing her around and decided to go to San Antonio so she could see the Alamo and River Walk.

Michelle volunteered to drive, and we were happy for the chance to relax. One morning, we headed south and in about an hour and a half, we were approaching a town. Michelle glanced at a sign from the corner of her eye and snorted. “What kind of people would name their town ‘WACKO?’” Pat and I both laughed and said, “Read the sign again, Shell!” She took another look, and said, “Oh. It’s WACO!” She laughed with us as Pat and I watched her face turn red.

Dave Thomas

November 21, 2019

 

Names

~ crittersandcats ~ 2 Comments

Maybe I’m not traveling in the right circles, but it just doesn’t seem that there are as many nicknames in use today as there were when I was growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Are we being too politically correct and thus losing the color and entertainment value of our “handles?”

I’ve noticed also that people are getting away from shortened names and going for the formal version of their names. “Dave” has become “David.” “Doug” is now “Douglas.” “Russ” is now “Russell.” “Steve” is now “Steven” or “Stephen,” etc. Let’s get back to the short names, and the names with pizz-azz.

Following is a list of same of the names I heard when growing up in Augusta, Kansas:

Heavy Stevens- He was stocky, but not really heavy

Red Casner- Yes, he had red hair

Red Phillips- Another red-head

Red Larrick- Another red-head

Poot Mann- This may have something to do with a flatulence problem?

Peaches Guest- He had rosy cheeks that looked like peaches

Stub Warren- Built like a fire plug. After oil and gas leases were signed for his farm, he and his wife came to town in their new purple Cadillac

Slim Huddleston-

Runt Canfield-

Jap Hurst- Short for Jasper

Corky Smith-Played the drums in high school pep band on the back of a flat bed truck during V-J Day celebration

Corky McNary-

Cat Leedom-

Let’s all resist formality and go for short names and nicknames that are interesting or funny.

Dave Thomas

November 14, 2019