Watching this made me remember my siblings and how we each have a family nickname that makes absolutely no sense if looking at our real names.
My eldest sister is called Petite or at times Pet because she is the smallest baby and even as an adult she is still the smallest in the family. She also has another nickname but I still want to live 🤣
My 2nd sister became ChiChi because as a kid I couldn't pronounce her name and I would call her Chichi instead and the name stuck. She also has another nickname but again I still want to live.
My youngest brother has a nickname that cannot be said outside of the family as he has threatened bodily harm if used 🤣 We just use Jessie or Jess when there are other people around 🤣
I was called Jabo by my pops and I never really got to know why he gave me that. Later on, my siblings would further shorten it and I was Bo to the rest of the family. Another reason was when I was a kid I was absolutely crazy about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I would rattle off trivia about them whenever I had the chance.
One turtle, in particular, was my favorite. He was Donatello, the geekiest of the Turtles and his weapon was the Bo staff. So my 2nd sister making fun of me called me Bo from then on and it stuck. My mom though would shout my 2nd name and it was often an indication that I was in big trouble.
Hearing Jo Koy talked about how he got his nickname just goes how to show that not just Filipino families but Asians love giving nicknames to each other partly because of love, part because we often have long-ass names and so a nickname is more efficient, at times because it came from something funny or the tough love we have for our family members.
What's your nickname story?
