Thursday, May 02, 2013
Tommy
So, I went to the Sal on my lunch break yesterday because it was half-price Wednesday and I needed a pair of jeans.
I actually have several pairs of jeans, but most of them are not really ... presentable, and I need to wear jeans to the adoption center (see: kitten claws), so I picked up a pair for three bucks.
Tommy Hilfiger jeans.
I am not a big aficionado of labels, per se, but these jeans fit me and they were better-looking than most of the jeans I own which are all frayed and hole-y, and hey, three bucks. Thankfully, there was not a huge "Tommy" label embedded on the back of the waistband, which is what happens to most label-brand jeans, so I bought them.
And then I got to thinking about Tommy Hilfiger, who actually grew up not far from here, and why a grown man would call himself "Tommy". The only other grown Tommy I could come up with off the top of my head was Tommy ... Shaw? Is that the name? The singer for Styx? And he was kind of small and elf-ish, too, like Tommy Hilfiger, so I thought, well, maybe if you're named Thomas, and called Tommy as a child, and then you grow up, but you stay small, you just keep the Tommy?
I don't know. My mind goes weird places.
And THEN I got thinking about a girl I went to high school with who was named Dolly. Any other girl named Dolly probably would have been teased mercilessly, but this Dolly was gorgeous and popular and polite and really, really nice to everybody, so she was bulletproof. I don't know why someone would name a child Dolly, really; I had a grandma Dolly but her real name was Edwina and her nickname was Dolly. I don't know why anyone would name a child Edwina, either, but it happened to my grandma. Maybe it was a family name; if so, it ended with her, because you can bet your *ss nobody else after her saddled their kid with "Edwina". Or maybe her parents wanted a boy, and they were going to name it Edward, but it was a girl instead, and just to make sure she never, ever forgot that they REALLY wanted a BOY, they named her Edwina. Take that, tiny child. My apologies to any Edwinas out there. At least they didn't nickname her "Winnie". Great, now all I can think of is Frau Blucher.
I don't know. Names are funny things. When I was baking, my older sisters were lobbying really, really hard for me to be named "Heather", which I actually love, but my mom named me Rocky* instead, which is an okay name, but honestly? I like Heather better.
Yeah, I'm just hung up on names today. What's your favorite name?
*not my actual name. ha.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
We don't have a Sal anymore. After Hurricane Sandy, all the nearby ones got packed up into trucks so things could be given to The Victims. All well and good but in its place is a Thrift Store. I have been there exactly once, probably because I have enough clothes, except for maybe another pair of jeans, Tommy or not.
Favorite name? I don't have any in particular but J. R. R. Tolkein knew how to sling them around.
My daughter was born in an era when women had only a first and middle name. Her surname would change as her "ownership" changed, like a pet, so I wanted HER name to be powerful, spectacular, and memorable. Since I had been about 16 years old, I'd wanted to name my first daughter "Anastasia Victoria". I LOVE the name Anastasia. If the child insists on a nickname, there's Anna, Stacy, Stasha, Vicky, Ava, etc.
Ex#2 stomped all over that, because "Anastasia is too Russian and his family would never accept it" and "Uncle Victor inherited the farm from Grampa and we've never forgiven him for that, so we wouldn't want anyone to think we named her after him" (um, like Grampa's will is Vic's fault?).
So my baby got a mild floral name, and when her baby came along, I told her the story of her name, but carefully NOT to urge her to use my long-lost choice, but to urge her not to let others influence her. Fight for her choice. (I was furious with SIL's mother because she was vetoing names right and left, like she thought she had some rights in the matter. If not for her, my grandbaby might have been named Sojourn, which Daughter loved and I liked a lot, but which her MIL insisted was a bad omen. Bull poopy.)
My own given name? Eh, it's ok. It's slightly unusual enough that people get it wrong all the time, but simple enough that it annoys me when they get it wrong. A few people have had the nerve to tell me I'm not spelling it right. Duh?
I have one of those teaser names and highly inappropriate for a woman my age I might add. I asked my parents why I was not named after my dad and got the stuttering silent treatment. That was the name of his evil ex wife no one talked about. What a scandal.
Becs, I was inordinately excited when I heard Goodwill was coming to town, until I went there and discovered that everything is waaaaaay overpriced. Goodwill, my *ss.
~~Silk, Anastasia is pretty. Sounds regal.
and fmcetc., now I want to know your name!
I like Aurora. And Savannah. And July.
I've always hated my name, Virginia, even as the hatred wanes with age into disgust. And any time I have tried to tell someone how much or why I dislike it, they invariably say, "That's the name of my sainted, recently departed mother!" Swell..............Ginny F.
Oh, yeah, names I like.....Right now I am partial to Christian, Liam, Sarah and Jehannes....but that will change just as my taste in sofa upholstery does. My own kids' names? 40 years later? Boring......Ginny
(P.S. If I had said "Britnee, Destinee, Chastitee" etc., would I be blocked forever????
I like the name Virginia!
and no, if you had said Britnee or whatever, you wouldn't be blocked - I'd just assume you were differently-abled. :)
Post a Comment