July 27, 2006 1:39 am

That’s Meggan To You

:note: nothing

All of a sudden there’s been this huge influx of people calling me “Megg.” Now, don’t get me wrong, under the right circumstances this is perfectly okay. Some examples:

1. My friend Jeremy accidentally referring to me as “Megg” since his sister’s name is Megan and that’s what he calls her.
2. Heidi and Meagan and other people I am close to referring to me as “Megg” because, well, we are close.
3. Asking my permission to call me “Megg”

However, there are a few circumstances in which it I feel it is not okay to arbitrarily shorten my name:
1. When I barely know you and you begin calling me that from day one as if that’s how I introduced myself
2. When I don’t like you
3. When you have previously been under fire for calling me another nickname I was uncomfortable with
4. When I just know that in your head, you are spelling it with one g and not two. (I’m only sort of joking.)

I mean, in the grand scheme of things, this is no big deal. But why would you just start shortening someone’s name as though that’s how they refer to themselves? I can see in the case of Jenn or Jem, because yes, they have full names and they do go by those sometimes, but the key here is they also refer to themselves by their abbreviated names. I almost never write “Megg” on anything. I can’t even recall if I’ve ever done it.

This arbitrary name-shortening thing happened at least three times today. Twice in person, once in writing. Seriously, what is going on?

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10 Comments

  • Claire says:

    That’s one of the reasons I like my name – no-one can shorten it to anything ridiculous or irritating! ;)

    I promise I won’t shorten your name :P

  • Tracey says:

    I, like Claire, promise not to call you Megg, Meggan!

  • meagan says:

    As one Meagan to another Meggan, Amen Sister!

  • Melissa says:

    I feel exactly the same way about this. There are only certain people who are allowed to call me “Mel” or “Meliss”. But unless you’re close to me or I give you special privilege to call me whatever you want, don’t ever dare do it!

  • Elea says:

    People are lazy? I mean, even with my name, some feel the need to address me as “El”. I’m sorry, but there are only a few people who can get away with that. For the rest of you, the name is Elea (El-lee)!

  • Jordie says:

    People associate a whole host of stupid nicknames with me… I know the feeling. Dad calls me “Jord” sometimes, but that’s all right.

  • Rose says:

    I didn’t start referring to myself as Rose until the end of grade ten, because everyone started calling me Rose.

    I didn’t start THINKING of myself as Rose until halfway through yr. 1 college.

    So I didn’t get to pick my nickname or who called me it or anything :(

    Not that it matters. Rose is a nice name :P

  • Julianne says:

    I feel your pain. Some people (including my great aunt, but I think that’s on account of her senility) insist on calling me Julie, which is a bit irritating — especially when they introduce me to other people as Julie. Confusion abounds, let me tell you. I won’t ever call you Megg. :)

  • Yolanda says:

    Strrange stuff. I am not one for nicknames and really only recently have one primarily with online friends. I promise you will never her Megg from me.

  • Jem says:

    Although you used me as an example of a shortened name, I completely understand how you feel. It wasn’t until I was about 16 or 17 that I decided to go by Jem, and before that anyone who dared call me anything other than Jemma was immediately set straight. I felt ..oddly violated.. to have anyone abuse my beautiful name in such a way!

    It’s kinda funny in a way, because now I feel odd when people call me Jemma. I only ever go by Jemma in formal situations – i.e. job interviews, ‘business’ emails/etc.