this actually is something I can likely blame on my parents
Who started calling me Liz?
I've been called that my entire life. I can't remember a time when people called me by my given name, Elizabeth, on an occasion where they weren't angry with me or being formal.
In the past couple of years I've actually gotten to a point where I hate that nickname, but I continue to use it because that's what everyone calls me. I don't physically sign my name as Liz. I don't list myself as "Liz Reesman" in any form or profile. I've NEVER liked Liz. Mom liked it. Dad liked it. Mom hated "Beth" and started calling me "Liz" so no one called me "Beth". Isn't that nine kinds of absolutely ridiculous?
When people ask me what to call me, I hate telling them "call me Elizabeth" because that sounds too formal. I don't like the nickname "Beth", or "Lib", or "Libby". Any shortening of my first name annoys me. I've been known by so many other nicknames through my life that I've gotten to the point where I just say "call me whatever, just let me know it's me you're talking to".
I went through phases when I was younger where I wanted to change my name completely. I never wanted to go by my middle name, and I don't dislike my name, I just hate how it's been shortened. I thought for awhile that maybe if I changed my name it would be easier to have everyone calling me something that wasn't Liz, they'd gripe about me changing my name completely but whatever.
In fact, the only shortening of my name I ever liked was Lizzie, and my mom refused to let me go by that because I had a cousin that was a Lizzie and everyone in the family disliked her. In high school for a brief period my friends referred to me as that, but I'd go home and be Liz again, and I despised it. [edit: I also don't mind, for some reason, the name "Lizu". Go figure.]
It's a self-perpetuating cycle: every time I'm introduced to someone new, the person introducing me introduces me as Liz. If I introduce myself in front of people who know me and use "Elizabeth", the people who already know me look at me strangely, almost accusingly, as if by using the more formal version of my name I'm somehow shutting out new people.
It's a ridiculous thing, but there's no real cure for it. I've been Liz for 25 years, and I see no way for me to no longer be known as such.
It's almost enough to actually make me change my name-- but to what? Names aren't like clothes; you can't just shed it and try something new on for size.
Ugh. And if everyone started calling me Elizabeth, I'd end up assuming everyone was angry with me, even if I knew it to not be the case.
Maybe I should just be "Hey You!" for awhile. I actually am irritated less by that than by "Liz".
...end of pointless ranting that just makes me seem crazy. I have "work" to do.
I've been called that my entire life. I can't remember a time when people called me by my given name, Elizabeth, on an occasion where they weren't angry with me or being formal.
In the past couple of years I've actually gotten to a point where I hate that nickname, but I continue to use it because that's what everyone calls me. I don't physically sign my name as Liz. I don't list myself as "Liz Reesman" in any form or profile. I've NEVER liked Liz. Mom liked it. Dad liked it. Mom hated "Beth" and started calling me "Liz" so no one called me "Beth". Isn't that nine kinds of absolutely ridiculous?
When people ask me what to call me, I hate telling them "call me Elizabeth" because that sounds too formal. I don't like the nickname "Beth", or "Lib", or "Libby". Any shortening of my first name annoys me. I've been known by so many other nicknames through my life that I've gotten to the point where I just say "call me whatever, just let me know it's me you're talking to".
I went through phases when I was younger where I wanted to change my name completely. I never wanted to go by my middle name, and I don't dislike my name, I just hate how it's been shortened. I thought for awhile that maybe if I changed my name it would be easier to have everyone calling me something that wasn't Liz, they'd gripe about me changing my name completely but whatever.
In fact, the only shortening of my name I ever liked was Lizzie, and my mom refused to let me go by that because I had a cousin that was a Lizzie and everyone in the family disliked her. In high school for a brief period my friends referred to me as that, but I'd go home and be Liz again, and I despised it. [edit: I also don't mind, for some reason, the name "Lizu". Go figure.]
It's a self-perpetuating cycle: every time I'm introduced to someone new, the person introducing me introduces me as Liz. If I introduce myself in front of people who know me and use "Elizabeth", the people who already know me look at me strangely, almost accusingly, as if by using the more formal version of my name I'm somehow shutting out new people.
It's a ridiculous thing, but there's no real cure for it. I've been Liz for 25 years, and I see no way for me to no longer be known as such.
It's almost enough to actually make me change my name-- but to what? Names aren't like clothes; you can't just shed it and try something new on for size.
Ugh. And if everyone started calling me Elizabeth, I'd end up assuming everyone was angry with me, even if I knew it to not be the case.
Maybe I should just be "Hey You!" for awhile. I actually am irritated less by that than by "Liz".
...end of pointless ranting that just makes me seem crazy. I have "work" to do.