Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Why William is Bill and Richard is **** ?

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 7
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 7 template Next
  • #1

    Why William is Bill and Richard is **** ?

    I am not an American. And I can never understand why :

    William is often called Bill.
    Richard is called ****.
    Robert is called Bob.

    Can anyone explain this ? Are there other examples around ?

    Edited my post to include other examples listed by everybody :

    James = Jim
    John = Jack (???)
    Katherine = Kate
    Henry = Harry/Hank
    Harold = Hal
    Charles = Chuck/Charlie
    Anthony/Antonio = Tony/Toño
    Elizabeth = Liz/Lisa
    Margerie = Midge
    Margaret = Peggy (???)
    Alexander = Sasha (???)
    Philippe = Pippa
    Jose = Chepe/Pepe (???)
    Xavier = Japos (???)
    Francisco =Paco (???)
    Ernesto = nestor (???)
    Fidel = fide

    (???) = it's so different, I wonder why.
    Last edited by rush; August 15, 2002, 22:30.
    C3C ISDG Final Round : Actively Lurking
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Just tradition I guess.
    Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

    Comment

    • #3
      Oh, yeah. James is called Jim.
      Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

      Comment

      • #4
        John is called Jack.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

        Comment

        • #5
          Originally posted by Oerdin
          Oh, yeah. James is called Jim.
          John is called Jack.
          ****, these were the fist two that popped into my mind when i read the thread title and it looks like I was beat to them. I think that bout covers it. As to why this is, I dunno. A good question indeed.
          "I bet Ikarus eats his own spunk..."
          - BLACKENED from America's Army: Operations
          Kramerman - Creator and Author of The Epic Tale of Navalon in the Civ III Stories Forum

          Comment

          • #6
            Harold is called Hal

            Henry is called Harry or Hank

            Katherine is called Kate
            Last edited by DanS; August 15, 2002, 04:09.
            I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

            Comment

            • #7
              Blame the Brits. This goes back at least 500 years.
              I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

              Comment

              • #8
                Especially "Harry" and "Kate".
                No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Hank
                  www.my-piano.blogspot

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    It's fortunate that it is Americans that get nicknamed that, and not Cockneys.
                    www.my-piano.blogspot

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Boddington's
                      It's fortunate that it is Americans that get nicknamed that, and not Cockneys.
                      Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
                      Douglas Adams (Influential author)

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Robert is called Bob.


                        I would never listen if anybody would name me 'Bob'.
                        I can't even find the connection between Robert and Bob.

                        Catherine and kate makes sence to me,
                        but Robert and Bob.

                        just call me Robert. Or CyberShy
                        Formerly known as "CyberShy"
                        Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          OK Bob
                          Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
                          Douglas Adams (Influential author)

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Kate is short for Bob
                            Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
                            Douglas Adams (Influential author)

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Originally posted by DanS
                              John is called Jack.
                              The French version of John is Jaque. Yielding Jack in English after the Normans finally learned the language three generations after the conquest.

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 3 4 5 7 template Next
                              Working...
                              X