Day 19 -- A "Babers" by Any Other Name Will Smell as Sweet

Oh can of worms, consider thyself opened.  This is not a "there's five minutes before my lunch break, so why not?" kind of post today.  This is a "I'm going to go get a cup of coffee and sip it while I read, because I'm in for the long haul" kind of day.  I'm going to attempt to share with you all my nicknames and why (if there is a reason) that I have them.

Family Nicknames:
My family is renowned for their nicknames.  I mean, I grew up with an Aunt "Roofy" and an Uncle "Brother."  The nicknames are bad enough, but over the years they evolve and create hybrids, so if I miss a nickname, it's because there are too many to count!  Here are the main ones:

~Smoo -- I have no idea about this nickname's origin, except that it went well with Jill's "Pooh" (as in Winnie-the-) and Kara's "Boo" (short for Boogie).  My next door neighbor growing up, Shanna, swears her family called her Smoo as well, so it is possible there was some nickname-stealing going on in the Davenport household.

~Nanner -- My middle name (before I got married) was Deanna.  When I was born, my sisters (then 2.5 and 5) couldn't quite manage to say "Deanna," so they said their little sister "Megan De-Nanner" was born.  And thus, so was my nickname.  This name now takes many forms including Nan and Meggie-Nan.  (Note: only one person outside of my family has ever attempted to call me "Meggie," and after seeing the look on my face, he never attempted it again)

~Sweety Bird -- Only my mom calls me this one.  My guess is this one started as calling me Tweety Bird, because of my blue eyes and white-blond hair that I had as a small kid.  I have recently caught Mom calling her granddaughter this, but I'm fine having another generation of Sweety Birds around the house.

Two generations of Sweety Birds

Friend Nicknames:

~Meg-Han -- (strong emphasis on the H)  My college roommate Shannon started calling me this freshman year when I expressed to her how I despise alternative spellings of my name.  I got her back by calling her Shanonah for years to come.

~Meg -- Believe it or not, it was college before anyone ever really called me Meg.  I was the only Megan in my high school classes, so there was never a need to distinguish "which Megan" people were talking about.  My freshman chemistry class had five Meg/Megans (out of only 30 students!), so to all chemistry people, I permanently became known as "Meg."  That's why Kristen Sorrell always calls me Meg, as well as anyone I met through her, such as college roommates and her husband, John.  When I went on Summer Project in Maryland, they all decided to call me Meg, too, so they only know me as Meg.

I actually really like this nickname and have no issue with anyone calling me "Meg."  I always introduce myself as "Megan" and then let people decide whether or not to call me "Meg."  Jason uses them interchangeably.  I answer to both equally.

~Shmeg -- This one was created by Kristen Bounds for unknown reasons.  Other variations -- Shmeggles, Shmegalicious, Shmegasaurus, Shmegasaurus-Rex.  They all make me giggle.

~Other friend nicknames -- M-Dog (back in the "everybody's first initial followed by 'dog'" phase in high school), Mad-Dog (given to me by former coworker Erin who thought my pre-marriage initials MDD looked like "Mad-Dog"), and Lil Chem (my "street name" when I was a high school public speaker during college)

Erin and Kristen B, inventors of "Mad-Dog" and "Shmeggles"

Jason Nicknames:

Jason and I spend a lot of time alone together.  He's a silly, silly guy, and he comes up with some of the craziest stuff, especially nicknames for me.  Here are a few of them.

~Monkeybird -- It's been a while since he's called me this, and I cannot for the life of me remember how it originated.  What I do know is it's my Mii name on the Wii, so I guess I will forever be "Monkeybird."

~Babers -- We used to call each other "Babe," which somehow evolved into "Babers" which is now what we call each other.  Since then, Jason has added "De ol' Babers" (which is totally unfair, since I'm 4.5 years YOUNGER than him), which sometimes gets shortened to simply "De ol'."  Then there was "Burbiss," "Burbanus," (not a big fan of that one for pretty clear reasons), and my newest nickname, "Burdanish."  There is no rhyme or reason for these nicknames, they just happen organically around him.

De ol' Babers and Babers, sipping some coffee at Cracker Barrel

If you've made it this far, congratulations!  You have peered into the crazy world of my nicknames and lived to tell about it.  What you have NOT done is gained any blackmail-worthy dirt on me.  I'm proud of my nicknames because they are testaments to the good relationships I have with my family, my friends, and my husband.  That's right folks, I am Babers, and I'm proud of it!