LL-L: "Nicknames" LOWLANDS-L, 07.JUN.2001 (01) [E]

[Sandy Fleming]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 07.JUN.2001 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Nicknames

David Strommen wrote:

> In my wife's family and in my mother's family the short form for Reinhard
> was
> Reinie, just as Heinrich was Heinie. Is this not considered short forms?

Sure.  However, ... (1) it could also stand for "Reiner," "Rainer," or
"Reinhold," and (2) I wouldn't have responded to it.  It sounds too much
like
"Heini(e)," and in our Low Saxon and German (Missingsch) dialect area at
least
"Heini" has come to be associated with below-average intelligence or
dexterity,
being used in references to males in combinations such as _blder Heini_
("dummy," "dumb-ass") or just _Mensch! Bis du 'n Heini!_ ("Man! Are you slow
on
the uptake, or what?!").  The only time I temporarily accepted a short and
diminutive form of my name was when a couple that traveled with me in Norway
called me "Reinchen," and only because I liked them and their _Berliner
Schnauze_, I knew they meant it to be truly affectionate, and I was sure it
was
temporary.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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