a bun by any other name
It occurred to me the other day that the nicknames J and I regularly call The Bun have nothing at all to do with his actual name. All his nicknames are (unintentionally) based on the letter 'b'. Like so:
~ Bun: used between J and I in conversation, emails, and even documents, e.g. 'Did you buy milk for Bun?' Seldom directly addressed to The Bun himself, although he knows it refers to him.
~ Babi: 'pig' in Malay; an affectionate term. My grandmother and mother used to call us kids 'chao babi' (smelly pig) and I associate it with warm childhood memories. Sometimes J and I will be silly and draw the syllables out long - 'barrrrrr beeeee' - and The Bun loves it.
~ Bee or Beebee: derirative from 'babi', and I use this the most to get his attention or to speak with him, e.g. 'Bee, shall we go to the playground?' In fact, we use it so much within the family that on a regular (and well-behaved; see below) day, his actual name is hardly called.
~ Boo: I don't know how J and I came up with this, but we use this quite often too. It seems to be used in circumstances that require a persuasive tone, e.g. 'Boo, you know we already have the same toy at home...'
We do use his real name, of course, and now that I think about it, its use is often in a serious context, like when I am giving him a warning or trying to discipline him. His Chinese name is usually used in the company of his paternal grandparents, which isn't as often as I'd like, really, but at least he's aware that he has a Chinese name. Maybe on this journal I should actually refer to The Bun as 'Bee'!
~ Bun: used between J and I in conversation, emails, and even documents, e.g. 'Did you buy milk for Bun?' Seldom directly addressed to The Bun himself, although he knows it refers to him.
~ Babi: 'pig' in Malay; an affectionate term. My grandmother and mother used to call us kids 'chao babi' (smelly pig) and I associate it with warm childhood memories. Sometimes J and I will be silly and draw the syllables out long - 'barrrrrr beeeee' - and The Bun loves it.
~ Bee or Beebee: derirative from 'babi', and I use this the most to get his attention or to speak with him, e.g. 'Bee, shall we go to the playground?' In fact, we use it so much within the family that on a regular (and well-behaved; see below) day, his actual name is hardly called.
~ Boo: I don't know how J and I came up with this, but we use this quite often too. It seems to be used in circumstances that require a persuasive tone, e.g. 'Boo, you know we already have the same toy at home...'
We do use his real name, of course, and now that I think about it, its use is often in a serious context, like when I am giving him a warning or trying to discipline him. His Chinese name is usually used in the company of his paternal grandparents, which isn't as often as I'd like, really, but at least he's aware that he has a Chinese name. Maybe on this journal I should actually refer to The Bun as 'Bee'!