When everyone comes up with ridiculous nicknames for you

Once my mother thought she gave me a name that couldn't be twisted. Oh, how far she was from the truth, because if your name consists of more than one syllable, you're in trouble. So she started herself (I still don't understand) with the particularly flattering ‘Adelientje-Pientje-Rientje-Stientje’ (no one said this piece wouldn't be embarrassing) to wake me up, I used to be quite a heavy sleeper, which is how I ended up with the nickname Pien.

I could hide behind the vegetable shelf in the supermarket when she called me that near that handsome stock clerk. Until I was about sixteen and my best friends took over her nickname. In elementary school, they called me Ade or Aad. My first real adult colleagues called me Adèl, which sometimes got shortened to Delletje. No joke. And during my time at Amayzine, I went from Adelain to Adelinoee, via The Adster to Addie. Since this week, I sometimes hear people calling Ed. I suspect they mean me. By the way, it's so bad that people call the editorial office asking if they can get ‘Adelainnnn’ on the line. They will probably call soon for Addie, I suspect.

The nickname used to be useful because people only used first names back then. So you had no idea which Henk or Margrietje it was if you didn't add that personal characteristic. It seems that people now only give you nicknames to describe your colorfulness, says emeritus professor Magda Devos to VRT Taal. The nickname is now much more for small circles, because everyone and their mother no longer knows you. Your nickname can also be negative: then it goes as a mocking name. Is it positive and sweet? Then we're talking about a pet name.

Some names also circulate in the editorial office. May or Maytje/Mayke, Lillie/Liltje or Lilli-anus (sorry), if someone asks for Kiki, we say: you mean Kieksss or Kiekster? Annabelle is Bel, Danielle is Daan, Lotte is Lot and we standardly make Annick Annickie or Annickster. And, what's yours?

Signed,

Pien, Ade, Aad, Lien, Adel, Adelainnn, Adelinoe, The Adster, Addie, Ed. But sometimes they also call me Adeline.