It was my good friend Clare. Only she wasn't yet my good friend Clare, she was my good friend Henry's wife Clare. She's the one who started it by calling me BP.
Isn't it funny, when you have a name everyone has to shorten it? As mine is a short name anyway, the only way to shorten it was to P. Pronounced Pee - just in case there was any doubt. And the B? Well, as he said, all shy-like, that's for, er, big. Hence Big P. Stop sniggering at the back.
So this nickname was given to me on the set of a porn....no, I can't lie. It started because I used to be 5'11 3/4" and Clare's husband Henry wasn't. He rarely topped 5'6", even with his lifts in place (and he thought we didn't know). Henry and I used to hang out a lot. We were at school together and although in different years are close in age. I went to Australia with him, and worked on his farm in Surrey for a while. He was also built relatively in proportion. With me on the other hand... put it like this: I once had to go to Ealing Police Station and give a witness station about a nasty road accident. On the front of the form the Constable had to write a description of me. He wrote just the one word. Prop. Sums me up really. And if you know your rugby, it's quite a good description. Now it would be fat prop, but anyway, I digress:
So, from hanging around with Little Henry I ended up with the soubriquet BP, and he was LH. Although the LH didn't stick, BP did. And like Topsy it just growed and growed until I became BP to everyone. I've been that for years now. And over time it has gradually lengthened to Beep (isn't that odd the way people do that too. First they shorten your name, then they change it again; Thomas > Tom > Tommo, TommyBoy and so on). Even my (now ex-) wife calls me Beep more than she uses my given moniker. And, cliche as it is, on the rare occasions when she used my real name I used to look round to see who she was talking to.
10 comments:
so now we know.
and who is the statue of then? and is it in your back garden, or do you have photoshop?
so many questions...
Yes, and, er, Yes. But the photo is un-photoshopped. He just sits there and surveys my back garden. Doesn't do much, but then he is quite cheap to keep. And the dog wees on him every so often. To make him feel at home.
oh, so very interesting!
I used to play ladies rugby and spent a season as a prop. Thankfully someone noticed I could run pretty fast so I got out of that position before the cauliflower ears could become established. :-)
Ah.
I've never had a nickname. Well, not till I entered the world of blogging and had to invent one for myself.
That's a bit tragic, really, isn't it?
good evening the beep (I notice you've lost your -)
and there was me thinking it was something to do with "please leave your message after. . ."!
P&P
(re postage and packing, what trip?)
yes, I'm sorry it went, but you know it is, it just had to dash.
yes, I'm sorry it went, but you know it is, it just had to dash.
Aah. I did wonder if it was alright to address you as Beep and leave out 'the'.
Funny how hard it is to keep control of what people call you.
I was called piglet when I was tiny. When I got old enough to object they just changed the bit at the front. And then over time the bit at the end fell off. Now I have to correct people who think I'm a small biting thing that swarms instead of a small wriggling pink thing.
Interesting! And I'd assumed it was short for something or based on initials. Nicknames are just so random are't they? I had another horrid nickname that I shall never reveal when I went to big skule. All part of the bullying there. I hope, Mig, that piglet was a much more affectionate moniker than that one.
damn
I was so sure that I'd said something about "leaving a message after the beep", but it wasn't me
;-)
ps this won't make any sense at all unless read in context of original comment stream. . . oh well, happy easter with your new brood!!
xx
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