The name's David...

... but you can call me 'trep'.

I've had a few nicknames over the years... and enjoyed almost all of them. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my given name.  But when I was in grade school you couldn't shoot a spitball without hitting someone named David!  Apparently David was the default name on the boomer generation male birth certificate.

Teachers and friends attempted to sort things out by experimenting with variations on a theme.  A typical question that I'd get asked on the first day of school was, "Do you want to be called David, Dave, Davey (The Lutheran cartoon series 'Davey and Goliath'  was really big back then), or maybe something else?" 

Other than a short period in 4th grade where I wanted to be called by my middle name (Lindsay) I usually asked people to call me 'David' (although, interestingly... all of my siblings call me 'Dave').

When I was in the navy I was known by several derivations of 'David', as well as 'Bogie'/'Bogey' (from my last name; Bogner).  Given that 'Jewboy' or something even worse was altogether possible, I guess I should count myself lucky.

While studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I worked evenings at the now-defunct Richie's Pizza on King George street (remember the big message board?!).  One of the long-time workers had already laid claim to 'Dave', and another recent hire was named 'David'.  So for almost two years I I grudgingly answering to the name 'Dudu'. 

Yeah, I know... pretty lame.

Since moving to Israel I haven't really had too much trouble with my name beyond the occasional struggle to keep Israelis from calling me 'Daaayveeed' (I usually put the kibosh on that by politely asking the offender just how many 'yuds' he/she thinks are actually contained in my name).

The blogosphere seems to be another story altogether, though.  As I look around at the people I read on a regular basis, I get the sense that very few of us named our blogs with an eye towards what other people would call us in on-line discussions.

I have never made a secret of my real name here on treppenwitz, so I figured most people would simply call me David (if they talked about me at all).  However, when we had that first (and so far, only) blogger bash in Ra'anana last year, all I got were blank stares when I introduced myself to my fellow Anglo-Israeli bloggers as 'David'. 

I quickly realized that most people were walking around introducing themselves by the names of their blogs (boy, would 'Psychotoddler' or 'Orthodox Jewish Straight Theater Queen' have gotten some funny looks if they had attended!). 

I have to admit that it felt really strange to walk up to someone and say, "Hi, I'm treppenwitz... who are you?"  But at least I was sometimes able to spot a glimmer of recognition with this approach. 

However, it has been sort of interesting to lurk around the blogosphere these days and see what other people call me. 

So far, I have been noticing a decided trend towards 'Trep'.

OK... not terrible... but if someone was going to truncate the name of my blog, couldn't they have picked the part of treppenwitz* that means 'wit/wisdom' rather than the part that means 'stair'?   I'm just saying...

I suppose I really have no room to complain.  After all, nicknames are rarely of one's own choosing.... and having a nickname does indicate that people feel a certain familiarity when speaking about you, right? 

I'll tell you what... I can't wait 'til the next blogger bash.  I am so gonna be walking up to people and saying, "Hi, nice to meetcha... I'm Trep!"  :-)

* Teppenwitz literally means 'the wit of the stairs'.  The striking reply that crosses one's mind belatedly when already leaving, on the stairs. People are often angry because they did not have the fitting answer directly during a conversation. The term is old, but it was made popular by W. Lewis Hertslet who published his book in 1882 entitled 'Treppenwitz der Weltgeschichte'. In that book, he writes: "Like to a petitioner who is just leaving after an audience, a piquant, striking words occurs to history almost always delayed."

Source: Munich University: Sabine Engelke - Idioms - Neues vom Treppenwitz (in German)