this is the code for the render ad
Community› Wedding Discussion Boards› Not Engaged Yet
Not Engaged Yet
New Discussion

Nicknames at work...

thetimewillcomethetimewillcome member
100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
edited May 2014 in Not Engaged Yet
At work, I end up working with this guy occasionally. His name is a common name...David. However, he would prefer to go by a nickname. Which I'm usually cool with. I'm thinking in this case...Dave. Nope, he wants to be called by his childhood nickname...Frog. I can't do it. I just can't. I understand that is his preference, but... I can't. It's a professional environment, I can't bring myself to call a guy Frog. For the record, I don't think I could do it in a personal setting either. My brain does not compute.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? Should I just suck it up and call the guy Frog? He signs his emails with it.

ETA: So far, I just haven't been calling him anything. Just a bunch of "hey"s. I'm just concerned about future encounters.
Report Reply to Post

Re: Nicknames at work...

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    This sounds like an interesting situation lol. I have a lot of coworkers that go by other names besides their own but they aren't unusual names. Have any of your other coworkers expressed anything about this name?
    Report Reply
  • MoiramabMoiramab member
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper

    Yeah, that doesn't strike me as super professional. We have a new guy at work that goes by his middle name because he's a Junior, and I just can't see myself calling him that name in front of customers (it's Nico, btw, which is a perfectly good middle name, but not outside a social setting)

    image
    Report Reply
  • thetimewillcomethetimewillcome member
    100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    @southernpeach89 Some coworkers have said it seems weird. Some coworkers I've heard call him Frog. So it appears to be a mixed reaction.

    Why? Why would someone put people in a position like this? Do you not think that people are going to go...wow...super uncomfortable with that?
    Report Reply
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    @thetimewillcome

    I would be super uncomfortable with that. I honestly don't know what I would do. I feel like I would call him David and see if he opposes and says call me Frog. If he does that then you may have to just succumb to the situation.
    Report Reply
  • Peaseblossom55Peaseblossom55 mod
    Moderator Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its
    I'm a lot more formal, I couldn't see seriously calling someone Frog at work.  I don't see how anyone can take him seriously either..... I would call him by his real name. 

    Anniversary

    Report Reply
  • ShallowSeasShallowSeas member
    Sixth Anniversary 1000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    No, just no. Frog is a horrible nickname.  All I can think of is Froggy the The Little Rascals.

    image
    Anniversary
    image
     
    Report Reply
  • phiraphira member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary 5 Answers
    I have a friend from grade school whose nickname is Frog, so that might be why it doesn't strike me as that odd.

    I ask people what they prefer to be called, and I call them what they prefer to be called. It's really not a big deal as long as their preferred name isn't something that's legit offensive.
    Anniversary
    now with ~* INCREASED SASSINESS *~
    image
    Report Reply
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    I cannot imagine using a nickname like Frog in the workplace. I've got friends with nicknames like Gonzo, Spaz, and Gunny. I can't imagine any of them using those names in their workplaces though. To me your given name, middle name or a traditional shortened version of either are the only professional options in the workplace. If you're friends with a co-worker and you use nicknames that's fine I guess, but I'd still use real names when interacting with other co-workers in meetings and such.
    Report Reply
  • Ollie08Ollie08 member
    500 Love Its 1000 Comments Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    What kind of an environment/business do you work in? I could find it more appropriate for a rougher job, like construction or manufacturing etc. But it would be weird for me to call an accountant in a corporation "Frog". I'd either call him Frog or just not address him by name. And if you have to use his name, then use whatever it's listed as in the e-mail display name, not his signature. I mean, surely your company doesn't have him listed as "Frog Jones", right? 

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers

    image
    Report Reply
  • Dignity100Dignity100 member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    Wow  - Frog would be a hard one to call a person by.  I guess if everybody else did it, I would probably catch on and start doing it too.

    When I worked at a tech support call center, if a person with the proper name 'Richard' called in and went by 'Dick'; I would continue to call him 'Richard' or 'Mr. LastName' because I just wasn't comfortable calling a person 'Dick' unless I REALLY meant it the way I intended it.


    image
    Anniversary
    Report Reply
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    @Dignity100 - Your comment reminds me of a receptionist we used to have here who's husband and son were both named Richard and went by Dick. She always referred to them at "Big Dick" and "Little Dick" when she'd tell us stories. Cracked me up - but I could never call them that! She was well into her 70s though...and always said "I can say whatever I want because I'm old and I've earned it". haha.
    Report Reply
  • carliealissacarliealissa member
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper

    For some reason just reading this is making me laugh out loud- "David," "-call me Frog"!

    Does your boss call him Frog?  Maybe in time, and hearing everyone else use it, it will start to seem more like his name.

    I don't understand what's wrong with the name Nico at all.

     

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    Report Reply
  • thetimewillcomethetimewillcome member
    100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    @Ollie08 This guy works for in engineering. Push paper engineering as opposed to get your hands dirty engineering.

    @carliealissa I've never heard what my boss calls him. I wonder what his boss calls him. Maybe I can touch base with him.

    It just seems strange, because its so odd. I'm sorry, you want me to call you the name of an animal as opposed to your non-animal name? 

    I suppose, there could be worse problems that I have.
    Report Reply
  • Blue & WhiteBlue & White member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    Engineers are a weird bunch. But I tend to call people by whatever they first introduce themselves by - as long as it's not offensive to someone else, I find it a bit disrespectful to decide on someone else's name? That's a completely dissenting opinion and I haven't had any coworkers or students named Frog yet :)
    I guess, to tell you the truth, I've never had much of a desire to grow facial hair. I think I've managed to play quarterback just fine without a mustache. - Peyton
    Report Reply
  • thetimewillcomethetimewillcome member
    100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    @Blue & White I generally agree with you. I call people by what they like to be called by, generally. I have people that I call by their last name, initials, middle name, shortened version of their first name, or other variations. Frog is just a hard one. It feels like I'm making fun of him or something. It's just so weird. Also, I kind of feel like Frog is a nickname that would normally be reserved for good friends or something, and I'm not a good friend. It kind of feels like I'm intruding. I'm not sure if I'm explaining very well.
    Report Reply
  • thetimewillcomethetimewillcome member
    100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    Oh, I also agree: engineers are generally a weird bunch.
    Report Reply
  • Blue & WhiteBlue & White member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    Yea, I kinda get the feeling like you're intruding too.  I guess I feel all ways about the issue :) haha.  it's definitely something you don't expect to happen at work :)
    I guess, to tell you the truth, I've never had much of a desire to grow facial hair. I think I've managed to play quarterback just fine without a mustache. - Peyton
    Report Reply
  • phiraphira member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary 5 Answers
    Honestly, I really don't think it's okay to decide which nicknames are socially acceptable/professional, and which ones aren't. J, his brothers, and my sister all go by nicknames socially and professionally; many of my students have preferred nicknames that aren't even in the realm of similar to their first names. It's not my place to decide that they have to be called something else. So, Frog might sound like a really weird nickname to you, and that's fine. But I'd call him what he asked you to call him; it would be really judgmental and disrespectful to intentionally call him something else.
    Anniversary
    now with ~* INCREASED SASSINESS *~
    image
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards