How I got the nickname Cutworm
Long about 43 years ago I was a young country hick at my first big city job in a warehouse. I was part time and working 2nd shift as a produce order runner. All this was new to me. New people from different cultures. New work habits to learn. How to deal with people who were different than me, not necessarily in a bad way but different. I was shy and not wanting to offend anyone. A real easy going type of guy if I do say so myself.
Well I had been on 2nd shift about 6 weeks and if you can imagine everybody working 2nd gets board. They try to liven it up by making jokes at anyone and everyone. No harm no foul, just good harmless fun. Something to get you through the night.
Well being new I stayed back trying to learn about the others. You know, If so and so was a hot head or not, were they really just kidding ect.
Then came the night that I became the blunt of the jokes. Coombs an older guy , in those days an older guy was 30ish, made a really good couple of jokes about me . Sadly I can’t remember what they were. But after about 2 hours of off and on rubbing me, I found myself in front of Bill a little short lift truck operator who would become a favorite of mine, and most of the other guys. And Coombs was letting it fly but then I started in and everyone was surprised and laughing. I cannot remember what it was that I said but Bill said that I cut him down just like a Cutworm!!! And I have had that nickname ever since.
RIP my good friend Bill
Great story Cutworm!!!
All this time I thought it was related to being a producer that grows corn and had a few battles with cutworms.
My nickname in college was "Protein".
I was a weightlifter that competed bodybuilding and power lifting and ate massive amounts of protein. I can't recall any of my friends back then calling me anything else.
Drank 6 raw eggs every morning(before the movie Rocky) along with cereal.
Had 2 big cheeseburgers for lunch, then an entire chicken for supper. A massive protein drink in the evening.
I could bench press double my weight and do 40 pull ups.
So we can assume that you dont look anything like the picture you posted quite sometime ago.
If I passed you on the street I doubt Id recognize you now-first impressions are everything,
Just messin' with you-we do it all the time at work-keeps me from taking myself too seriously.
Good story-one of my nicknames is Termite,so there you have it.
John
John,
How did you get the nickname termite?
Did you dig tunnels?
Who else has/had a nickname and how did they get it?
metmike
Quite some time ago I hung with a,how you say,a "notorious" group of lads.
One guy was the duke of nicknames and assigned an alias to most everyone/everything and those names seemed to stick.
I was a carpenter doing tearout repair and rebuild work at his home when I first became involved with that bunch.
I was a natural fit and the adventures began. I look nothing like a termite.
John
Thanks Termite!
I had nicknames for all 5 siblings, Mom and every friend growing up.
Also my kids and wife.
A couple of funny ones:
My girlfriend in college: "Dren" Back then, being called a Nerd was a negative thing..........so she was Nerd backwards, the opposite of a Nerd.
When my wife and I were dating, I would often respond to things that she said and did with "Dig It!" Of course this means you really approve. I turned this into my pet name for her "Figgity Diggity". ...............we still call each other Figgity sometimes today!
I just discovered that the Beatles had a song called "Dig it"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUUOX6kAIxI
Growing up, Mom was a fanatical tanning enthusiast. She would lay out in the sun all day in the Summer. After a couple of weeks, strangers thought she couldn't possibly be Caucasian. She was always very proud of her ability to tan. She had jet black hair too and we lived in Detroit. One time, when she went to the emergency and they filled out some information about her, for race, they put down "African American". She loved to tell that story.
But my Dad was Irish with red hair and the sun would burn him badly, so he avoided exposure. I look more like Mom and was the best tanner of the 5 kids and would have a tanning contest with her every Summer as a kid. Unfortunately, I had some of Dad's genes and this was in the days before sunscreen and dermotologists warning us of the skin damage, so I had dozens of severe sunburns and have the skin of somebody 20 years older than me.
Anyway, I spent thousands of hours growing up in Detroit, laying in the sun with Mom in the backyard or at the beach on vacation. She had her big black boom box, playing the latest rock tunes, which both of us appreciated.
During the course of a tanning session, we would hold our arms together to see who was darker. If not for the redness, that gave me more color, she would win.
To tease her, I would call her "White Woo" implying that she was not as dark as she thought, when the reality was that she was a darker brown than any other white person around.
Funny, how sometimes nicknames can be the complete opposite of the reality to be funny. Like the 400 lb well known radio personality here in Evansville in the 1980's nicknamed "Tiny".