"Chick" = nickname for "Charles"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 9/18/06, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
>
> Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > An "early" printed ex. of this (obs.?) U.S. alternative to "Chuck":
> >
> >   1913 Charles E. Van Loan _The Lucky Seventh_ (Boston: Small, Maynard) 238:
> >   "Hello, Chick ole boy!"..."Charles!" she said. "Who are these men?"
>
> There's Chick Stahl, an outfielder for the Boston Braves and Red Sox, 1897-
> 1906; I'm not sure when he picked up the name, but it certainly predates this
> example (and probably the 1904 example Jonathan mentioned).

And Chick Fraser debuted with the Louisville Colonels in 1896.


--Ben Zimmer

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